Canon India turns 10

NEW DELHI

JANUARY 2, 2007

Canon India, a complete digital imaging company, entered its 10th year of
operations in the country. On this momentous occasion the company announced a
number of innovative and exciting programs to kick start its anniversary
celebrations in the country.

As a part of its 10th Anniversary Celebrations, Canon is looking at 'Indianising'
the brand appeal and has signed on Sachin Tendulkar as the company's Corporate
Brand Ambassador starting January 1, 2007. Sachin will be a part of Canon
advertising, 10th anniversary celebrations, retail, press and outdoor campaigns.
He will also be a part of the special Canon Anniversary Calendar that will be
shot by ace photographer Atul Kasbekar to be launched later this year.

Speaking on this occasion, Alok Bharadwaj, VP, Canon India said, "It is
a proud moment for all of us at Canon as we close our first decade in India. The
company started operations in 1997 and has grown tremendously since then
touching a revenue of Rs 400 crore in 2006. It was a momentous occasion to have
acquired over one million customers in December 2006 and to have received 151
awards in nine years. The Digital Iimaging Industry in India has a positive
outlook and we are confident that the next decade will be as successful as the
first."

He further added, "We are very excited about this year as we are
entering in Phase II of our growth in India. We are initiating a number of
programs to mark our 10th Anniversary Celebrations. Our customers and channel
partners have lots to look forward to from us. We are particularly thrilled to
have Sachin Tendulkar be a part of our communication campaign. Keep a look out
for this and much more of us in 2007."

Starting January 2007, the company will be embarking on an aggressive
communication program which will feature editorial and advertising campaigns
across different media. As the company continues to increase its penetration in
smaller cities and reach out to more socio-economic segments, enhancing the
brand connect will be an important direction. Canon will be spending over Rs 30
crore towards our brand building initiatives to make the Canon brand more
appealing to the target audience through visibility at various customer touch
points, and the tie up with Sachin Tendulkar will integrate with this program.

As a part of these celebrations, Canon will be embarking on a 100 city
customer contact program through a Mobile Mini Expo across different tier-2 and
-3 cities. This Expo will aim at increasing customer awareness, introducing
channel partners to the Canon Gyan Yatra and will culminate in a Grand Expo to
be held in October 2007.

Canon launches over 80 products each year and 2007 will see the same trend.
New products mean new technologies and in most cases, pioneering new
functionalities and technologies. This is a key initiative for Canon's IInd
phase of growth where the company will be expanding into new product categories,
new vertical customer segments and new geographical regions.

Canon will also be announcing the inauguration of its first Digital Media Lab
located at School of Convergence in New Delhi. The lab will be equipped with all
the latest Canon products needed for students to learn digital still
photography. This lab is the first of its kind in India and Canon is looking at
opening more such centres across the country through the anniversary year.

Canon will also be working on a number of customer loyalty programs,
announcing special schemes and offers for its consumers in India. For example we
are looking at launching a customer loyalty program for our consumables and
printer consumers where they can accumulate points and redeem them in return for
exciting offers. What better time than now with over 1 million customer base for
Canon. To facilitate this, Canon will be strengthening its retail presence
across the country. Canon has engaged with 237 retail outlets today including
140 IT Imaging zones, 54 Digiclick Zones, 7 Digic Video Zones, 4 Canon Xperience
Zones and 32 Canon Care Centers. The company plans to take these to 500 stores
by the end of 2007.

On the retail front, Canon will tie up with 20 national retail chains and 50
city based retail chains.

In addition, Canon announced that it will be opening a Level 3 Canon Master
Service center for the service of its camera, camcorder and professional camera
range of products in Mumbai Currently, Canon has one master service centre for
camera products which is located at Gurgaon which will also be revamped. These
new centres will have a new brand identity and will help us connect with the
customers more closely. These are Canon owned centres with staff trained by
Canon directly and will also carry the entire display of Camera products for
customer touch and feel.

For its employees, the company will be organizing a number of different
motivational programs and will be strengthening its internal communication programs along
with giving away special anniversary momentos. 'People engagement'
will be the theme through 2007.

As the company reinforces it commitment to India, Canon India will be
enhancing its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives as it adopts 10
children to fund their education. In addition the company announced that a
proportion of all sales proceeds will be spent on environment protection
initiative of WWF, restoration of heritage sites and donation to NGO's.

The company also announced the Canon 'Excellence Awards' which will aim at
identifying and recognizing performers in different categories to celebrate
Canon's 10th anniversary and India's 60th year of Independence.