Singapore - GE cameras: 15 percent market share in the Philippines, so why not Singapore?

Although you can't own one of their jet engines, you can now boast of a GE logo in your pocket with one of their latest cameras, launched in Singapore this week.

Better known for its diverse portfolio in finance, healthcare, energy, transportation and infrastructure, General Electric licensed its brand to General Imaging Co. (GIC) which made its entrance into the compact camera market in 2006. Although its 2008 entrance in Singapore was shortlived, GIC found success in some markets such as the Philippines where they currently enjoy more than 15 percent market share and are hungry to grow their footprint in Asia.

This week, GE cameras are making a comeback in Singapore and this geek caught up with Mr. Hiroshi Seki, president and chief operating officer of GIC to find out more.

On why GIC chose the GE brand, Mr. Seki mentioned that although they have considered coming up with their own brand, they felt that the camera market was already close to maturity. GIC still saw growth opportunities but felt that strong branding was critical, which is why they decided to license a popular American brand like GE which has proven to be the right strategy if you look at their success in a market such as the Philippines. Although entering this market has not been easy, GIC looked at their success in the Philippines and asked themselves, "Why not in Singapore?"

Even though we can only boast of a tiny domestic market, Singapore is important to GIC for its influence in Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia. Although Mr. Seki realizes that sales may be tough here, a strong brand awareness in this market is important enough for them to be here.

Their strategy in Singapore is very targeted though, focusing on entry-level users to prosumers who "don't want to miss good shooting opportunities" and are "looking for ease of use".

Discussing the challenges they foresee, Mr. Seki mentioned that while Filipinos are very familiar with an American brand like GE, this may not be the case in other countries. With the advent of substitutes such as smartphones with cameras, Mr. Seki admitted that smartphone camera capabilities are getting better and can pose threats to the compact digital camera. In fact, Mr. Seki candidly admitted that they are already suffering the effects in some mature markets. However, he also believes that Asian markets still hold great potential. Although there are large populations of smartphone users, many users in Asia are young and could be good target audiences for GE cameras.

On the challenge of keeping their American-based pricing low, GIC's answer appears to be in staying lean. With a team of only five in the regional office based in Hong Kong managing the entire Asia Pacific region, Mr. Seki cited strong communications with key partners in the different territories as key. They have appointed C2O Corporation Pte. Ltd., a distributor with very established channels, to cover both Singapore and Malaysia and are keeping very close communications for expansion strategies in these markets. In fact, Singapore consumers can look forward to GIC's plans to conduct more activities to engage consumers at different levels.

NICHOLAS AARON KHOO

http://asia.cnet.com

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