Japanese technology giant, Seiko Epson Corporation is a global imaging and innovation leader. The company's core businesses include inkjet printers for the home, office and industry, 3LCD projectors, industrial robots and wearable devices such as smart glasses and sensing products.

"Our company is firmly focused on developing distinctive and exciting products built around the original compact, energy-saving and high precision technologies we have refined over the years. Our mission is to become a company that is indispensable to its customers by reacting decisively to developments in the market and society, by anticipating the needs and expectations of its customers, and by providing products and services that surpass these expectations," says

Mr Junichi Watanabe, Seiko Epson Corporation's Chief Operating Officer, Visual Products Operations Division.

Epson's current and future strength lies in its ability to create, manufacture and refine core components, transform them into finished products, and to complement these with services and solutions that address genuine customer need. One area where the company is doing very well is in visual communications.

The visual instrument (VI) business (which consists of Projectors, Label Writers and Head Mounted Devices) contributes 18 percent to Epson Singapore's business revenue, and this is expected to grow given that VI is a high sales growth engine for the company's overall business. In terms of market share, Epson holds close to 30 percent market share in the projection business. This is more than the combined market share of the next three players.

In projectors, customers will likely be seeing brighter and lighter devices that last longer and are capable of high impact large space projections, Mr Watanabe notes. "These will likely pervade performances, celebratory events or even advertising platforms. New technology implementation will likely be in the areas of lamp technology, ease of maintenance, collaborative interactivity and simplified connectivity. These are areas that Epson continues to invest in to improve the usability and adoption of our products."

"Expect to see increased new product introductions for high brightness projectors as well as widescreen projectors for special applications like digital signage. There will also be projectors targeted at the Home Theatre segment, which require the next generation of high resolution output equipment," says Mr Watanabe. Apart from Singapore, Epson also operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and the Indo-China region (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) within Asean. Although it is growing rapidly, the Asean region itself is still responsible for a small part of the group's global revenue. Asean is an important growth market, with countries like Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines beginning to realise their potential.

Case Study Questions

1. Analyse the key factors which can affect the speed of acceptance of Epson's new widescreen projector for digital signage when it is launched. (You may search the internet to find out more about the new widescreen projector for digital signage.)

2. Epson expects to see high growth in its visual instrument business in Singapore. Discuss the likely overall marketing objective adopted by the company and execute appropriate marketing strategies for the 7 Ps.