Canon SA’s new MD, David Preston, has outlined his ambitions to grow the multinational corporation’s African business into a €500 million business, by the end of 2022.
Preston, who was appointed Canon SA MD in January, believes that by reinforcing its support for African partners through channel marketing, training and demand generation, the organisation, which operates in 13 African countries, has the potential to grow considerably within the next two years.
Canon manufactures and sells office multifunction devices, including paper copying machines, laser and inkjet printers, cameras, diagnostic equipment and lithography equipment. The company operates through four units: office business, imaging system business, medical system business, and industry and others business.
In an e-mail interview with ITWeb, Preston says the digitisation of technology in the industry has been the single biggest driver of change in both Canon’s business-to-business and consumer sectors. He believes expansion into neighbouring African countries is key to the future growth of the brand as it sets its eyes on its multibillion-rand target.
“Together with our colleagues based in Dubai, we have a joint initiative, Africa Project 500, to boost revenues by developing the company’s on the ground, in country presence over the next three years.
“This will include, where appropriate, the establishment of representative offices as we have already done in Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria. In Southern Africa, Angola and Mauritius are in scope but still in discovery phase.”
Preston’s plans for the Canon brand in SA are grounded in a long-term strategy, with a focus on the examination of internal processes and client service delivery.
He believes expansion into African countries will be accomplished through a mixture of direct investment and skills training, internally and with partners, retailers and end-users.
“Building this capacity will ensure we have a good position in these markets to sell Canon products. In our domestic markets we need to retain our strong market-leading position and strengthen our own organisation to ensure we develop home-grown talent to manage the future potential for Canon.”
Evolution of the printing industry
While there is a perception that today's printing industry is on the verge of dying, Preston is of the view that printing goes beyond traditional print functions, and its evolution has shown great adoption to Industry 4.0.
“The integration of printing devices into IT infrastructure vastly increased their capacity to add value and streamline work processes for companies, simultaneously creating opportunities for Canon.”
Similarly, digital cameras and the versatility they have brought to the imaging industry have changed the way users capture and manage images in the photographic and broadcasting world – these are some of the factors that have helped open the door even further to disruptive technologies in the industry.
“The continued development of Canon’s mirrorless camera range and the company’s infrared devices will strengthen our position in the photo video market this year. We have also recently introduced our cinema and broadcast camera line-up, which is a good example of our continuing development into the professional imaging market.”
In light of the country’s current economic woes, Preston is well aware of the challenges he and his fellow executives face in terms of driving sales growth, developing new markets and increasing demand for Canon’s technology.
However, he remains optimistic that Canon’s innovative approach will stand the company in good stead in the months and years to come.
“The traits that make Canon products great are quality and innovation. These two together mean we will remain at the forefront of imaging and printing. It is also the reason why so many individuals looked to Canon for solutions to printing and scanning documents at home during the lockdown. Together with the need to support education of children at home, government was quick to recognise the need to deem printers and consumables as essential items,” concludes Preston.
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