A presenter submerges the new model at a briefing yesterday.

The new Mju-770SW camera will match the lifestyle of Thai consumers who love to take digital photos during the long holiday of the Songkran festival.

Under the company's Songkran campaign from April 11-17, the Mju Gang will conduct a road show to record fun photos of people at play during Songkran. The caravan of events will be conducted at major Songkran water-throwing areas throughout Bangkok - Khao San Road, RCA, Silom Road - as well as Pattaya and Chiang Mai. The Mju Gang is the latest colourful activity from Olympus, with a parade of pretty women and mascots who will be presented on the Olympus stage wagon.

"With a price of Bt14,900, more than 3,000 units of the Olympus Mju-770SW are expected to be sold this month," said Jaratpong Janejarasskul, general manager of the Consumer Electronics Division at Jebsen and Jessen Marketing (Thailand).

With its slim size and sturdy design, the Mju 770SW model is the most popular of the Olympus line. The Mju 770SW is waterproof to a depth of 10 metres. It is shockproof in falls of up to 1.5 metres. The camera has a weight resistance of up to 100 kilograms and temperature resistance of -10 degrees Celsius.

Jaratpong said the company's goal was to increase Olympus' share of the Thai digital compact-camera market from 5 per cent now to 7 per cent by October and more than 10 per cent by year-end.

"We expect to raise market share to 15 per cent during this fiscal year ending March 2008," he said, adding that the company expected to sell 140,000 Olympus digital compact cameras in Thailand in fiscal 2007. The total market for digital compact cameras is expected to reach 920,000 units this year.

Mitsuhiro Tanaka, regional business manager for Olympus Hong Kong and China's Asia Middle East Business Group, said Olympus expected to sell more than 10 million digital compact cameras worldwide this year, with about 10 per cent of sales in Asia.

"Asia is currently the fastest-growing market in the world, with an estimated growth of 30 per cent in sales of digital compact cameras and 50 per cent growth in single-lens reflex cameras this year," said Tanaka. "Thailand is the largest market for Olympus in Southeast Asia and enjoys strong growth of between 15 per cent and 20 per cent year on year."

Hans Ulrich Hansen, regional managing director of Jebsen and Jessen Marketing (Thailand), said the company had set a target of increasing its share of the Thai digital compact-camera market from less than 10 per cent now to 15 per cent by year-end through introducing unique line-ups that addressed consumers in a different manner.

He said the growth target was based on Olympus' new business strategy of changing the company inside and out, addressing what consumers really need and developing products that satisfy their demands.

"We want to follow the Malaysian market closely, where Olympus enjoys a strong second place, with a 23-per-cent market share after Canon," said Hansen.

He said Olympus ranked fourth in Thailand, behind Sony, Canon and Nikon.

"We want to make Olympus be among the top three digital compact-camera brands in Thailand in the next three years and gain a market share of at least 20 per cent," said Hansen.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation