Canon considers hiking prices of non-camera products

Canon India is considering hiking prices of its non-camera products by around 5 percent from next month to offset the impact of the steep fall in the rupee, which in the past 45 days has lost more than 8 percent against the US dollar.

"The biggest impact of the rupee decline is on our cost and imports, which has impacted the margins. We have to pass on the cost increase to customers. It will take a month or two before the new prices become effective.

"We are thinking of a 5 percent hike but have not yet decided the date, but we are looking at doing it in July," Canon India executive vice-president Alok Bharadwaj told PTI.

The price increase will be in the documentation products including laser printers, copier machines, inkjet printers and other IT peripherals segments which contribute half of the its turnover.

Computer firms like HP, Lenovo and mobile handset manufactures have said they cannot but pass on the cost increase by way higher import cost to consumers to protect their margins.

About 50 percent of Canon India's revenues in 2012 came from cameras, 20 percent from printers, 25 percent from copiers and document management services and 5 percent from the professional printing products business.

It can be noted that since May the rupee has been on a downward slope losing over 8 percent since then and since March the loss has been over 10 percent. After the US Fed chairman's last week said it will reduce its USD 85-billion monthly bond buying programme by the end of the year, the rupee plunged to a lifetime low of 59.985 (intra-day) on Thursday. It closed at 59.27 against the dollar on Friday.

"We will do it for the B2B segment, which means all the printers, copiers, scanners. That is what we are contemplating now. The B2C, essentially the cameras and lenses, that we are not looking at now. We cannot afford another drop in the festive season which starts in the next two-three months," Bharadwaj said.