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<p><font size=”5″><strong>Epson’s Kodak Moment</strong></font></p>
<p><font size=”4″><strong>Minoru Usui is rising to the challenge, seeking to leverage on Seiko Epson Corp’s core strengths in technology and high quality manufacturing to regain lost ground. </strong></font><br />
<font size=”2″>By Amit Roy Choudhury</font></p>
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<div class=”photo”><a href=”http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sites/businesstimes.com.sg/files/imagecache/filenamee/BT_20121215_ACEPSON15_308321e.jpg” rel=”lightbox[field_photo_file][<p><span style="font-size: x-small;">-PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN</span></p> ]” class=”imagefield imagefield-lightbox2 imagefield-lightbox2-image_300x200 imagefield-field_photo_file imagecache imagecache-field_photo_file imagecache-image_300x200 imagecache-field_photo_file-image_300x200 lightbox-processed”><img width=”300″ height=”200″ src=”http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sites/businesstimes.com.sg/files/imagecache/image_300x200/BT_20121215_ACEPSON15_308321.jpg” alt=”BT 20121215 ACEPSON15 308321″ title=”” /></a></div>
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<p><span style=”font-size: x-small;”>-PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN</span></p>
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<p><font size=”4″>YOU could say that Minoru Usui had his “Kodak moment” shortly before he took over his present job as President of Seiko Epson Corporation in 2008. This was when he realised that there was a distinct possibility that the illustrious Japanese electronics company was in danger of going the way of Kodak, the famous US brand which had fallen into irrelevance because it did not keep up with the changing market and consumer preferences. That realisation was a sort of a wake-up call for him.</font></p>
<p><font size=”4″>Speaking to BT, he does not mince his words: “When I took over, one of the first things I decided was that there was a need to change our company’s direction … I understood that if we kept on doing what we’ve been doing all along and if we stayed in our comfort zone, then we would be in danger.”</font></p>
<p><font size=”4″>In more than 70 years of its existence, Epson has been known for its technology prowess. It has several firsts to its credit, including the invention of watches with the now-ubiquitous quartz movement. The US$10 billion company, headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, is also one of the world’s largest manufacturers of computer printers and information- and imaging-related equipment, among others things.</font></p>
<p><font size=”4”>Unfortunately, the turn of the century saw the erstwhile technology leader struggling to keep pace with more innovative challengers.</font></p>
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