Canon Bags the Challenger 2003 Award For Inkjet Printers

Company press release, April 8, 2003

New Delhi

Canon, the worlds leading Digital Imaging Company, today announced that it has been awarded the prestigious Challenger 2003 award in the Inkjet Printer Category by Skoch, a leading strategy cum marketing consultancy for the IT Industry.

Expressing happiness on receiving the award, Mr. Alan Grant, Managing Director, Canon India Private Limited said, Canon is extremely pleased to receive the Challenger 2003 award. The award is a reinforcement of Canons performance in the inkjet printer market and strengthens its positioning as the only complete Digital Imaging company in India. He added, We are confident that over the next two years we will be able to replicate the success enjoyed in the Inkjet printer category to the other market segments in which we have a presence.

Sharing the rationale for choosing Canon as a Challenger over competition in the Inkjet Printers category, Mr. Sameer Kochhar, CEO, Skoch Consultancy said, Canon sold 15% inkjet printers in a market size of 580,963 units. Additionally, Canons performance in India has been commendable, considering that nearly 70% of its sales took place in non-metro areas, where the action is shifting.

Elaborating on Canons plans to grow and consolidate its presence in India, Mr. Alok Bharadwaj, Director and GM, Consumer Imaging & Information Division & Volume Products, Canon India, said, Integral to our strategy for achieving a 30% market share in all the market segments where we operate, will be our ability to build the Canon brand in India. In addition to a strong brand building campaign, we will also be aggressively ramping our presence in Tier B & C class cities, while continuing to launch technologically advanced products and strengthening our sales/channel network to emerge as a 500 Crore company by 2005.

Canon India has focused on building its market share and consolidating its presence in the IT peripherals business since June 2001. Over the last 18 months, the company has achieved multiple milestones and has been successful in increasing its market share from 3% in 2001 to 15% in 2002 (in the inkjet printer category).

Some of Canons other achievements include:

v Creating a strong sales team for its Consumer Imaging & Information Division (CIID).

o Creating a regional (Canon focussed) distribution model with specific territories & a network of 70 dedicated Canon Premium Partners.

o Introducing Canon Care points and setting over 100 such points in 18 months.

o Launching 9 Canon Retail Stations-in Delhi (2), Jaipur, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Indore.

v Introducing 47 new Digital Imaging products in the Indian market in 2002.

About Canon

Canon India Pvt. Ltd. is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Canon Singapore Pte., world leader in imaging technologies. Set up in 1997, Canon India markets a comprehensive range of sophisticated contemporary imaging products that includes photocopiers, multi-functional peripherals, fax-machines, printers and scanners. The company today has offices in 8 cities across India and employs over 400 people. Canon has also set up a Software Development Centre (SDC) in India to develop document management software, including some general-purpose tool for Canon Inc.

Canon Inc.

Ranked 67th on Fortune 500, Canon is worlds leading imaging technology company with a record of innovation and creation of original technologies. The company has been consistently placed within the top three of the US Patent Registration chart. Canon is the leader in office automation devices worldwide.

About Skoch

Skoch is a strategy cum marketing consultancy for the IT and Telecommunications Industry and has been in the consulting business since 1997. Skoch helps clients enter and effectively target Asian markets and helps existing players in Asia transform and focus their businesses internationally. It offers a cost effective solution for outsourcing a wide range of business processes from its facilities in India. It has over 250 man years of experience in the IT and Telecom sectors in Asia and the companys services have been used extensively by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Bishnupriya Ray

Account Executive

Text 100 Public Relations

Global High Technology Public Relationsent Centre (SDC) in India to develop document management software, including some general-purpose tool for Canon Inc.nal technologies. The company has been consistently placed within the top three of the US Patent Registration chart. Canon is the leader in office automation devices worldwide.