The world?s largest camera maker, Canon, which touched 50 million units of production in 2011, is set to launch Wi-Fi cameras that will enable uploading of images from cameras to tablets, computers, smartphones and other devices a lot easier. Users can forget the USB cords that are now required for transferring images to computers.

?There?s a new appetite for sharing photos instantly,? said Fumikazu Hayashi, general manager, image communications product (ICP) integrated management division, Canon. ?To enable quick sharing, companies are creating new specifications and the Canon Wi-Fi camera is our first offering that looks to tap the growing internet consumer,? he added.

These Wi-Fi cameras will be introduced in the Indian market in March this year and will be available in six models: Two compact digital cameras (iXus 510 HS and 240 HS) and four camcorders (Legria HF R38, Legria HF R36, Legria HF M52 and Legria HF M56). ?Prices vary with country. Due to taxation, Indian consumers will have to pay more,? said Canon India senior vice-president Alok Bharadwaj.

The company has tied up with Apple, which will develop a Canon Wi-Fi application for its iOS-based devices. ?We are also in talks with Google for a possible partnership for the Android platform,? said Hiroo Edakubo, group executive, ICP operations. The range of Wi-Fi cameras is the first-of-its-kind technological innovation in the R3,800-crore camera market, which is growing at 40% every year.

Industry experts reckon this product could be the start of an evolution with digital cameras turning into ?smart cameras?. The challenge for Canon, however, is to do away with intermediate devices (computers or laptops) required as internet platforms to link the images.

?This isn?t a complete product,? said Hoshang Bilimoria, editor of Smart Photography magazine. ?I believe in the next two years, they can come up with a product that will be able to directly share images without any intermediate device.?

Canon plans to launch 14 more cameras during the first half of 2012. Among those will be the Cinema EOS 300 (C300) that was introduced last year. ?The C300 will be targeted at the entertainment industry, which is getting digitalised,? said Bharadwaj.

According to industry estimates, Canon has a share of 44.8% in the Indian DSLR market, and occupies second position after Nikon. In the compact digital camera market, its share is 15.5% and trails Sony and Nikon. While India contributes only 1% to Canon?s revenues of $45,608 million, it expects to clock 5% of its sales from the country in the next few years. It?s looking at a turnover of R2,280 crore this year at a 50% growth from India.

?Current trends point to multiple-ownership backed by an increasing consciousness for high-performance cameras,? said Nikhil Khurana, lead analyst, India digital products research at CyberMedia Research.

To drive growth in India, Canon has earmarked R150 crore for increasing its retail presence. ?We will expand our exclusive stores from 50 to 300 in the next two years,? said Masaya Maeda, MD and chief executive, ICPO, Canon. ?We may also look to cut costs to attract consumers.?

(The correspondent travelled to Tokyo on an invitation from Canon)