The Hindu : Business : Sharp to focus on office automation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005

Business

Business

Sharp to focus on office automation

Shanthi Kannan

Bets on orders from government institutions, medium and large corporates

CHENNAI: Sharp Business Systems (India) Limited (SBSIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sharp Corporation of Japan, has decided to focus on the IT sector and business solutions with its new range of products. The company's product portfolio in India includes digital copiers/printers, facsimile machines and multi-media projectors.

The Chief Executive of the SBSIL, Sunil K. Sinha, said most of the vendors were trying to join the full colour multi-function digital systems in office market. Sharp had also decided to join the league by launching full colour office automation. He said it would primarily cater to the high- and middle-end markets. The product would be positioned as an affordable solution considering the running cost of 49 paise for mono and Rs 4.49 for colour print, respectively.

Mr. Sinha said the current volume for office automation was low in India compared to other countries. Approximately one-lakh A-3 printer machines of various brands and nearly 36,000 A-3 copiers were being sold. This market was not sufficient for Sharp to set up its own manufacturing base in India, he felt. The company, at present, was importing the Sharp products from Japan, Thailand, China and Malaysia.

However, the company had entered the country through a joint venture with Larsen & Toubro (L&T). Recently, L&T sold its entire equity stake in the joint venture - Sharp Business Systems (SBSIL) - to Sharp.

Mr. Sinha said the market share of Sharp was 14 per cent and it hoped to achieve 16 per cent by March 2006. The company achieved a turnover of Rs. 71 crore last year and hoped to grow by 20 per cent in the current year. Nearly 50 per cent of the business came from government institutions and the balance from medium and large corporates.

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