Japanese imaging major Nikon has said it expects India to be among its top five markets globally in the next 3-4 years and aims to retain lead in the DSLR segment here. (Image: Reuters)

Japanese imaging major Nikon has said it expects India to be among its top five markets globally in the next 3-4 years and aims to retain lead in the DSLR segment here. The company is also expanding its retail foot print here by adding 10 to 15 Nikon Experience Zone, a shop-in-a-shop format to reach out to more customers. “We want to be among top five markets globally in next 3 -4 years,” Nikon India MD Kazuo Ninomiya told PTI. Currently, India ranks eightieth in Nikon’s global market and contributes around 3 per cent of the global sales. The top five markets for Nikon are US, China, Japan, Germany and UK. Nikon India had a sales of around Rs 1,100 crore last fiscal and contribution from digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera was 75-80 per cent. “We are expecting a double digit growth in the DSLR market in the future even in the smart phone era. I am expecting that smartphones users would shift to DSLR for better results,” Ninomiya said. Nikon is competing with other Japanese makers such as Canon, Sony, Pentex etc in the Indian DSLR market.

The company is bullish about its growth prospects and said: “the growth would come from DSLR market”. On Nikon’s strategy to retain its leadership, he said: “We have a good range of lenses and accessories. you can not take good photographs by having camera body only. We are ahead of our rivals in system”.

According to Ninomiya, Indian DSLR market is estimated to be around 0.5 million units and Nikon has around 55 per cent share of that. “Our activity in India is not only limited to sales but we do organise lot of photo schools and organising workshops,” Nikon Senior VP corporate Sales & Strategy Sajjan Kumar said, adding Nikon is engaged in lot of brand activities.

The company is bullish about Indian growth story as it had a sales of Rs 70 crore in FY 2007-08 and by then it has grown to multi fold in last 10 years. “We have 130 Nikon Experience Zone …. We would keep on adding 10 to 15 every year,” Kumar said. Nikon presently imports its range here from Japan, china and Thailand. To enhance its portfolio, Nikon today launched D850 – 8K capable camera here priced at Rs 2.54 lakh (with body).