Nikon: focusing on the digital consumer

By Timothy Sifert

Following the technological revolution spreading across most of the country, Polish consumers are increasingly opting to purchase digital cameras as opposed to their longer-standing analog cousins. Add to that recent economic improvements and the 50 percent growth in the country's imaging market as a whole last year, and it's easy to see why Nikon has decided to open its first office in the country next month.

"We want to be the first in Poland," says Richard Leigh, chief of new business development for Eastern Europe and Africa. "Our position was not so strong here as compared to the European Union."

That's an understatement indeed, if the competition has any say.

"Nikon is invisible," says Andrzej Skrzypczyk, a sales manager at Canon. He notes, however, that Nikon's lack of presence heretofore comes down to poor distribution rather than any product weakness.

Nikon's Leigh explains that in Austria, the UK, France, Spain and Italy, Nikon holds the number one position. But its goal is clearly not going to be an easy achievement, he acknowledges, since in the imaging segment, which includes digital and analog cameras, Nikon ranks sixth in market share. Its more prominent competitors include Canon, Hewlett Packard and Sony.

"In many countries throughout Europe, Nikon is number one and that's not the case in Poland," he says, referring to imaging space. "We want to be the leading player."

In that vein, the company has announced its new sales and marketing office in Warsaw, in which it will invest roughly zł.2 million. The subsidiary will be mostly owned by Nikon Holdings Europe B.V., and employ ten people at the outset. Its key operations include import, sales and service of film cameras and digital cameras.

The obvious impetus for the Japan-based firm is Poland's European Union membership, which it expects to boost the buying power of the country's roughly 40 million potential customers.

But even at present, despite customers having meager buying power, Nikon and its competitors have fared well, particularly because of a consumer drive toward more costly, but more hip and advanced digital photography technology. In fact, Leigh points out that the film technology market - as opposed to its digital counterpart - has shrunk. Meanwhile, the entire market has grown, following the lead of Western Europe.

"Especially with the growth of digital, the company sees the market as strong," he says. "People now want to be progressive and want to have the new technology." He points out that consumers, even in economic uncertainty, would pay for technology. " The plan is to establish a subsidiary."