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Fuji Xerox sets ambitious
target
BEIJING, May 05 — Fuji Xerox, the world’s leading manufacturer of
copiers and printers, vows to achieve a 20 per cent revenue growth rate this
year by creating new business opportunities in high-end markets.
“China has been strategically important to Fuji Xerox, and for the 2005
fiscal year we foresee a 20 per cent growth in terms of
revenues,” Yoshiaki Takahashi, the company’s newly-appointed chief executive
officer and president of China operations, said yesterday.
It is the first time in recent years the Japan-based company has
projected business growth on the mainland and in Hong Kong.
To achieve the target, Fuji Xerox will launch a wide range of new
products this year, including digital copiers for low-end consumers and
multi-functional colour printers for high-end markets.
The company has been focusing on providing low-end copiers and printers
in China. It commands about 14 per cent of China’s copier and printer markets,
competing with rivals including Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Legend and Canon and
Ricoh from Japan.
However, it seems the company is attaching ever more importance to
high-end products to snare larger profits.
“The China market is very competitive…but we will not follow our
competitors in what they are doing in the low-end markets,” said Takahashi, who
is also vice-president of Fuji Xerox.
Fuji Xerox set up a fully-owned leasing company last month, with
registered capital of US$20 million, as China further opens its financial
leasing sector to foreign investors.
With financial leasing services offered, customers have more options for
how they pay for their purchases, in particular for expensive devices.
Takahashi said the leasing company mainly serves foreign clients. But the
firm will continue to offer leasing services to Chinese customers through its
two local leasing companies. Most leasing services customers are professional
printing companies.
The company plans to set up a training centre in Shanghai this year,
where distributors and direct sales personnel will receive professional,
systematic training courses.
The direct sales network will be strengthened this year, particularly in
China, according to Takahashi.
Fuji Xerox President ToshioArima said last November that direct sales are
expected to contribute 80 per cent of the company’s revenues in China over the
next few years, rising from the current proportion of 50 per cent.
Fuji Xerox is a joint venture between Japan-based Fuji Photo Film Co and
United States-based Xerox Co, with Fuji Photo holding a 75 per cent stake.
Already a well-known brand in Japan, the company is not yet so famous among
Chinese consumers.
Takahashi said he will strive to enhance brand awareness and accelerate
the localization process in China, in particular by recruiting more local
personnel.
Describing himself as a “booster” for business in China, Takahashi said
he will stay in the post for “just a few years” and then hand the role to local
executives as the business “takes off.”
Takahashi’s predecessor, Kim Chung, a Chinese-American, retired after
holding the position for four years.
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