ESYINK Underlines Canon Connection to Tackle Indian CISS Market

Malaysian third-party supplier ESYINK is selling CISS (continuous ink supply system) units bundled with select Canon inkjet printers and all-in-ones, including the PIXMA iP2770 and MP287. At present the bundles and individual units are distributed across India by ACE Technologies, and ESYINK says it has shelf space in about 5,000 retail stores.

At the end of last year, ESYINK, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur-based Pineapple Resources Berhad (PRB), opened offices in Chennai, India. V. P. Sajeevan, an executive at various OEMs including Xerox and Canon India, is the CEO of ESYINK. Mr. Sajeevan describes India as one of the world’s main markets for printing. He thinks that the country could become the world’s largest consumer market of printed materials providing that the cost of printing is maintained affordable. ESYINK claims that its CISS units for Canon machines can reduce 80% of PIXMA MP287 and iP2770 operating costs.

ESYINK’s press release suggests that its Indian operation is expected to have annual revenue of 3 billion Indian rupees ($54.8 million) by 2016. Besides the CISS units, ESYINK will add the ESY Tab tablet device and ESY Phone smartphone to its product portfolio for the consumer market in India. By the end of 2015, ESYINK projects it will have one million CISS units installed in India.

Mr. Kensaku Konishi, President and CEO of Canon Singapore, denies any connection between Canon and ESYINK. According to Actionable Intelligence, Mr. Konishi said that neither Canon India nor Canon Singapore or any other Canon group has any official, or special, relation with ESYINK.

For ESYINK executives’ statement about his visit to Chennai, Mr. Konishi says he lived in India for five years and was simply visiting an old colleague on a recent business trip to a Canon dealer in Chennai. Before working as the CEO at Canon Singapore, Mr. Konishi was the President and CEO of Canon India. He said the ESYINK India office is on the upper floor of the dealer’s office. “So I visited ESYINK office to say hello to my old friend,” said Mr. Konishi.

In fact, Canon was working with ESYINK to market CISS units. Printers like the PIXMA iP2770 and MP287 offer extremely thin margins, so Canon must rely on consumables sales to make its low-end machines profitable. Canon seems unwilling to share any of its ink profits through a partnership with a third-party firm like ESYINK. Otherwise, Canon would not obtain enough revenue through CISS sales to make low-end inkjet devices profitable.