Canon India's Print Strategy: AI, Sustainability & Partner Growth with C Sukumaran

The printing industry is far from fading away. While the idea of a “paperless office” has been floating around for decades, reality tells a different story, especially in India, where the market continues to grow at a healthy pace. Recently, in a conversation with C. Sukumaran, Sr. Director, Product, Canon, he explained the current state and future direction of printing. The conversation ranged from Canon’s multi-vertical portfolio to AI-powered document management, partner training, service strategies, sustainability, and competitive positioning.

Canon India’s print portfolio and strategy

C Sukumaran:
“We are talking about printing as a portfolio here. The entire discussion will be around the area of printing.

Now, what are the trends of printing? Before that, let me give you how we are bifurcated. We have three verticals within printing. The first one is the B2C vertical, which takes care of home, SME, and SMB, and it also goes up to enterprise and government. These are primarily A4-range printers, available in two technologies: inkjet and laser.

Home is mostly dominated by inkjet. SME and SMB would be mostly laser. We call it PSD here.

Then we have the BIS division, which is more into enterprise-level printing with complete A3 solutions, where A4 is also part of it. We don’t call ourselves a print organisation; we call ourselves a document organisation. We play the role of digital as well as physical document management.

The third vertical is PPP, the production printing division. This takes care of high-end devices that sit in print houses. From high-end A3+ printing for advertising agencies to large-format printing for architects and even book printing.

So, we cater from home printing starting at Rs 3–4K to the most high-end digital press costing over Rs 10 crore. That’s the range we have.”

On market growth and the ‘paperless office’ idea

C Sukumaran:
“While digital is changing the way we print, printing itself has moved to a far more efficient model; we pick and choose what we want to print. The good part is that in India, print growth is almost in double digits.

One way we validate this is by looking at related industries; for example, paper supplies in India are growing over 7%. It’s a clear correlation that printing is growing.

When I joined Canon in 2000, I was told the paperless office was coming. More than two decades later, printing growth is still on.”

On AI-powered document management

C Sukumaran:
“For enterprise customers, we offer digital document management solutions because the volume of information has exploded. Two decades ago, if you had X amount of information, it took 30 years to double it. Now it doubles every two years.

Not everything needs to be printed, which is why we also have document management systems. One of our solutions is called ‘Therefore’. We analyse the electronic flow of documents in organisations and help them store, retrieve, and manage them more efficiently.

The growth here is over 20–30% annually, even though the size of this market is smaller than printing.”

On AI, data security and print restrictions

C Sukumaran:
“As far as deciding what document to print or not, that’s your decision. AI is more of an analytical element in our document management systems. No system in the printer can decline a print job, except for specific cases like currency printing, which is auto-rejected.

At the application level, however, certain confidential documents can be restricted from printing entirely. In terms of efficiency, we have features like ‘Follow Me Printing’ with our UniFlow solution – where the print is released only when you authenticate at the printer.”

On product innovations for Indian needs

C Sukumaran:
“India is unique, and we study our users, from home to enterprise, including ‘jobbers’, the small copy shops, especially in tier 2 and 3 cities. These are some of the highest print volume consumers.

Recent launches have focused on ink tank printers, which bring low running costs – as low as 11–12 paise per black-and-white print – along with better speed and reliability.

We have the GX series that solves many of the earlier pain points: document feeders for entry-level models, higher durability for dusty environments, and better printhead life.

Today, around 82–83% of our inkjet sales are ink tank models, compared to a 50–50 split with cartridges 5–7 years ago.”

On competition and Canon’s differentiators

C Sukumaran:
“We have a lot of respect for our competition. Our approach has been to focus on products that fit the Indian market's needs and on building a strong service infrastructure.

Today, we have over 350 service centres for B2C and 200 for B2B, directly managed. In Bihar, for example, once we strengthened our service, our market share crossed 40%.

In inkjet, we’re now number two; in laser printers, also number two; and in A3 copiers for enterprise, number one for nine years in a row, all without being the cheapest in the market. That’s because we offer value through solutions like Managed Print Services, UniFlow, and industry-specific integrations across BFSI, aviation, pharma, and even defence.”

On building and supporting the partner ecosystem

C Sukumaran:
“We have close to 20,000–25,000 retailers selling IT-related products, of which we actively engage with about 12,000–13,000.

We reach them with training, information, and consistent engagement programs. Our own training team has reached over 3,500 retailers directly, supported by 200 contractual trainers in smaller towns. We use an app to share product updates and run incentive programs like our ‘Passport’ scheme, where sales are logged for rewards.

Retail meets, both large and small, are a key engagement tool. But in recent years we’ve shifted focus from metros to tier 2, 3 and 4 cities, where print growth is faster.”

On B2B strength and enterprise focus

C Sukumaran:

“About 50% of our business comes from direct sales to large enterprises – banks, pharma companies, BFSI and consulting. We manage the top 1,000 accounts ourselves, while another 200 partners handle the rest.

Enterprise customers get consistent training, certifications, and tight service quality checks. Our customer satisfaction score is over 9.8 out of 10 – a big reason why we’ve been number one in this space for nine years.

Across inkjet, laser, A3 solutions, and production printing, we aim to be number one or two in every segment.”

On AI feedback, R&D and security

C Sukumaran:

“We gather feedback from customers and partners, which goes to our Tokyo R&D. They often visit India to understand unique local needs. Including dusty environments, high-volume small shops, or large-scale enterprise requirements.

Security is critical. In enterprise devices, we constantly update firmware, use encryption, and get global certifications. Future products will be built around two keywords: security and AI, with AI focused on service insights.”

On sustainability, Canon’s take

C Sukumaran:
“Sustainability is a core philosophy, people and environment. We use recycled materials in products, ensure all models are ROHS certified, reduce power consumption with innovations like our new fixing assemblies, and cut down on plastic in packaging.

Year on year, we make products closer to nature without compromising performance.”

On addressing partner challenges

C Sukumaran:
“Partner profitability is always a talking point. We’ve introduced mystery bonuses to prevent upfront discounting and ensure fair margins. We also make direct incentive payouts to over 5,000 retailers, timed to avoid immediate price cuts.

On warranty, we’ve simplified consumer experience – now offering standard two-year coverage without requiring registration.”

Conclusion

Canon’s print business in India is a story of breadth, adaptability and long-term commitment. From Rs 3,000 home printers to Rs 10 crore production presses, from dusty roadside jobber shops to data-sensitive defence installations.

The company’s focus on deep market penetration, vertical-specific enterprise solutions, robust partner training, strong service infrastructure, and steady product innovation has helped it stay competitive without playing the lowest-price game.

As Sukumaran sums it up, the future of printing is not about replacing paper with digital but about making every print smarter, more secure, and more sustainable, while ensuring the ecosystem around it thrives.

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