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Canon launches 40 consumer products

Issue #0527/2 - In launching so many products, Canon has created a bewildering range of printers and AiO. Could it be too many and is this contributing to such high purchase prices?

Canon has recently announced its ‘Autumn Collection’ of consumer products, comprising more than 40 products in four main categories – digital photography, digital video, photo printers and projectors.

PIXMA iP1600PIXMA iP1600
In terms of printers, there are 11 designer PIXMA photo printers and three SELPHY compact photo printers amongst the line-up, confirming Canon’s belief in the growth of home photo printing, which it says has grown by 300% in the year to March 2005 and is expected to grow by a further 166% by 2008. Another indication of its commitment to this market is the investment of more than $100 million in a new manufacturing facility for inkjet products in Vietnam.

Where printer products are concerned, Canon has a tendency to be the most expensive in the market for purchase but past tests have shown that running costs are certainly competitive, if not the lowest in the market – at least in photo printing.

PIXMA iP4200PIXMA iP4200
Canon now boasts a bewildering array of printers – so many that one again has to question the viability of a range of this size, asking the question “is Canon wasting money on an egotistically large product range”?
Two years ago, TCPglobal ran a piece entitled "SoBigBang2.HP" after Hewlett-Packard launched a massive 158 consumer products in one operation. At the time, Hewlett-Packard had 19 printers and 22 AiO products in its digital imaging range while Canon had 12 printers and 6 AiOs (127% more than Canon).
PIXMA MP150PIXMA MP150
Looking at the situation now, we see that Hewlett-Packard has 21 printers and 10 AiO products, while Canon has no less that 25 printers and 15 AiO products (Canon now has 29% more products than Hewlett-Packard).
So, while Hewlett-Packard has rationalised its range to avoid causing excessive confusion amongst buyers, with 25% fewer products, Canon has increased its range by 122%!
PIXMA iP2200PIXMA iP2200

This is not necessarily an achievement that Canon should be proud of. Too wide a range leaves the customer confused, bewildered and disoriented (I have experienced this myself in choosing a new laptop). The challenges of making a selection from such a vast array of products should not be underestimated. It can be bad enough trying to choose between products from several manufacturers, let alone trying to choose between so many products from one manufacturer.

Surely the result of such an approach is unnecessary money spent on production and marketing of such a large range of products?

PIXMA iP5200PIXMA iP5200

Consider a typical product development and sales cycle, including: conceptualising; planning; market research; technology development; industrial design; aesthetic design; factory tooling; parts procurement; manufacturing; assembly; packaging design; packaging manufacture; packing; storage; shipping; distribution; marketing research; marketing; all the management implications of each stage; and probably more!

A key aspect of product planning is differentiation. In order to avoid confusing the customer there has to be some clear reason for making a choice between any two products within a product range, regardless of which two are chosen to compare. Here we have Canon spending in all these areas on products where adequate differentiation is questionable.

PIXMA MP450PIXMA MP450

Generally accepted in manufacturing circles is the principle that minimising SKUs equals maximising efficiency and profitability. Surely it would serve the customer, the channel and ultimately Canon itself better to reduce confusion for the customers, simplify the buying process, get a higher proportion of the product range onto retail shelves and reduce the manufacturing and overhead costs, thus allowing product prices to be reduced and also margins and profits to be increased!

PIXMA 6600DPIXMA 6600D
Having noted that Canon products tend to be amongst the most expensive on the market, this could be a very attractive option for Canon, also resulting in higher sales volumes.
Canon boasts in its press release that it has spent 16 billion Euro on Research and Development over the last decade, which it says is four times that spent by “any other imaging manufacturer”.
  • Is this something to boast about?
  • Can this spend build sales or is it merely an added overhead?
  • Is this spend providing real value for money to Canon?
  • Or is it feeding an ego that needs to be moderated?
PIXMA MP170PIXMA MP170

In sharp contrast, Hewlett-Packard should be proud of itself for succeeding in rationalising the range to the extent that it has done. Even so, surely there must be scope for further rationalisation without compromising the differing needs of the diverse customer base? The number of printers in the Hewlett-Packard range has actually increased by two. It is the AiO range that has been reduced. Considering the fact that all of these printers and AiOs are photo capable, a strong case could easily be made for reducing the DeskJet/Photosmart ranges by at least one-third to fall more into line with the AiO range.

To service these ranges, Hewlett-Packard currently has at least three different major cartridge families on the go - the No.2x/5x series, the No.10x/3xx series and the new SPT (Scalable Printing Technology), No.363 series – plus several other cartridges in addition. All of these cartridge families are primarily photo capable.

PIXMA MP500PIXMA MP500

While appreciating that the new SPT family is not in a position to offer itself for use in budget printers at this stage, surely the very capable No.2x/5x series could be retired from active service. After all, there are enough units in the user base to guarantee massive sales of this family for some years to come.

On the positive side, five of the 11 Canon PIXMA products are multifunction devices, which Canon claims feature print speeds that are more than twice that of the previous range. Already amongst the fastest inkjet printers available, Canon can only benefit from further increases in speed as Hewlett-Packard also claims a significant increase in print speed in its new SPT products.
PIXMA MP800PIXMA MP800
Time will tell if Canon has bitten off more than it can chew. There is no doubt that the products are high quality and provide the user with the tools they require, so the question is – which one?

~End~

This entry was posted on Monday, September 19th, 2005 at 12:02 am and is filed under Hardware, New Products, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.