Olympus eyes Asia after Korea success

“Based on our success in Korea, we will actively cultivate other Asian markets,” says Bang Il-seok, 40, chief executive of Olympus Korea. Mr. Bang was appointed yesterday as the president of the video system division of the well-known Japanese home appliance maker for the Asia Pacific region. The video system division, which includes digital cameras, is a flagship business department of the company that accounts for 43 percent of the total sales of Olympus. The Asia Pacific office will manage operations in 54 countries in the region, including Korea, China, Singapore and Malaysia, with the exception of Japan. Mr. Bang is the first foreigner to assume the regional presidential position for the Japanese digital camera maker. “As the Asia Pacific market is showing rapid growth, I have been requested by the Japanese headquarters to assume the position from the beginning of this year,” added Mr. Bang. The regional headquarters office will be located in Hong Kong. “We considered Seoul as well, but it was not as competitive as Hong Kong in terms of income taxes and corporate taxes,” he said. “For the time being, I shall travel back and forth among Seoul, Hong Kong, and China.” As the head of the Asia Pacific regional office, Mr. Bang sees China as the market with the most lucrative potential. A total of 1.5 million digital cameras are expected to be sold in China through the end of this year, he said. Olympus is at the stage of just having entered into competition with Sony and Canon in the region. “I think that Olympus has paid relatively less attention to securing consumer loyalty through marketing, although it is competitive in technology,” he added. “We will apply marketing strategies that proved effective in Korea to communicate better with consumers.” by Cho Min-geun