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Mr Shammi Gupta, Director, Jindal Photo Films Ltd, at a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

Hyderabad , Oct. 6

WITH the increasing penetration of digital photography in the country, Jindal Photo Films Ltd (JPFL), the marketing company for Fujifilm in the country, may have to revamp its business model to address the dent that its photo film division could suffer in future.

Disclosing this to Business Line on the sidelines of a photography exhibition here on Wednesday, the JPFL Director, Mr Shammi Gupta, however, said the digital photography industry would take another couple of years to make the cameras affordable to majority users in the country.

The current entry-level prices of around Rs 9,000 for digital cameras were not affordable. Penetration levels would increase only when the prices come down to around Rs 3,000 per unit, which would take 2-3 years.

Stating that the existing high duties on digital cameras would hamper their fast penetration, he said JPFL would consider restructuring its business model by increasing the marketing of digital cameras if the market size increases with the help of low duties.

Meanwhile, to cater to the needs of digital photography users, JPFL has worked out a strategy of setting up `Digital Mini Labs' across the country, which would also cater to the needs of conventional photography users. Each `Digital Mini Lab' would cost around Rs 60 lakh. The company has already set up around 300 across the country. It plans to establish another 200 labs before the end of current fiscal, Mr Gupta said. "The company has already grabbed a market share of a little over 60 per cent in digital mini labs," he said.

Further, aimed at catering to the needs of users of Fuji brand digital cameras, the company is planning to set up service centres in four major cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. These service centres would also sell spare parts, Mr Shammi Gupta said.

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Digital photography impact — Jindal Photo may have to revamp biz model

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