Epson eyes higher sales in India

Epson, which manufactures and supplies devices like inkjet, dot matrix and large format printers, lasers, scanners and LCD projectors, is eyeing higher sales this fiscal by targetting several industry segments.

Last fiscal, Epson India Ltd, a subsidiary of Epson Singapore, which is an affiliate of Seiko Epson Corporation (Japan), recorded sales of Rs 260 crore. This fiscal, it expects sales to touch Rs 300 crore in India.

"The business and consumer products are witnessing tremendous growth. Besides, the demand from education, banking and government sectors has picked pace. We expect this average year-on-year growth of 10 per cent to continue for the next five years," Epson India Senior General Manager (Sales & Marketing) N Sambamoorthy said.

The company has participated in large scale deployment of computer-based education solutions in Orissa and Gujarat. "We are seeing large investments from government on computer-based education in the primary schools. Many other states like Punjab, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Karnataka are planning similar projects. We see growth opportunities in these projects," he added.

Some of these projects are large. For instance, Gujarat has installed 24,000 personal computers and 4,000 printers in primary schools. Similarly, Punjab has installed close to 20,000 PCs.

"All these installations are at the primary school level. There could be more projects for the higher level," he said.

Karnataka has floated a tender for 1,000 multimedia projectors and 1,500 printers for an e-learning project.

Sambamoorthy said the banking industry and the energy sector were other areas of growth for the company. "We are implementing billing solutions for power utilities in various states," he said.

India generates 20 per cent of the revenue for Epson Singapore, which includes Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, India and other nations. "The Indian market is the fastest growing among all these countries. At present, India is on par with the Thailand market. With the retail boom in India, we expect more sales," he stated.

The company has tied up with 12 leading retail brands such as Croma, e-zone, Reliance Digital, Metro Cash & Carry and Staples, which operate large format stores.

"We will partner all new retail brands. At the same time, we will increase our presence through small retailers also. We are aiming even growth from all these stores," he added.

Epson expects web-based sales to gain momentum in the coming years. "All licensed users will get internet updates every time the printer runs out of ink. It will also link them to the nearest store to refill ink. We have already started this service," Sambamoorthy said.