Anurag Agrawal

'Four years back demand was higher than production for digital products,' explains Anurag Agrawal, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Canon Middle East. 'But now the market is slowing down, and we expect a major shake-out.

'At Canon we have our own core technology acquired by $20 billion in spending on research and development over the past decade, our financial strength and our position as the largest manufacturer in the world which will help us defend our leading position in this industry.'

As if to underline this commitment to new products Canon Middle East will be rolling out a record number of new products at the Gitex computer and IT show in Dubai next week. There will be more than 40 in the consumer space alone, and a further five major product launches in business solutions.

'Our local position reflects our global leadership in digital cameras, for example, where we have 26% of the market,' says Mr. Agrawal. 'We are still targeting strong double-digit growth in the region, although we did see a slowdown in the summer which we expect to end with Gitex and the autumn season.

'But you always have to budget for some regional political uncertainty in a region like the Middle East, as we saw in Lebanon for three to four months earlier this year. We also have more than 40 new digital consumer products to launch at Gitex.

There are seven digital still cameras including the latest Ixus models, two digital SLRs, three digital video cameras, 12 Pixma photo printers, three Selphy compact photo printers and three multi-media projectors.

Home photo printing technology is clearly a prominent part of this line-up. Is this technology really catching on?

'Yes, even slow adopters like myself are finding it easy to do now,' says Mr. Agrawal. 'There is definitely a pleasure in doing this for yourself and the technology is very useful for printing off passport photos, for example, and avoiding trips to the photo-shop'.

One product line where Mr. Agrawal admits Canon is a late-comer is the DVD camcorder, and Canon plans to enter this market in mid-October with two very small and compact models.

'Of course, it is very convenient to take video pictures straight on to a DVD disc and this is a really user friendly camcorder with simple editing facilities and even an in-built lens cover.'

In the business solutions arena Canon will roll-out large-format printers and document scanners, laser multifunctional devices and other products which will not be fully revealed until the Gitex computer show in Dubai next week.

It is perhaps surprising to find Canon bracing itself for a shake-out in its business at a time when worldwide sales are still strong, and clocking up double-digit growth in the Middle East. But this kind of strategic thinking is another factor that will keep Canon on top in the competitive years ahead.