Casio sets sights on making Dubai regional hub

Koji Naka feels that there are lots of opportunities, as well as room for expansion, for Casio in the Mena region.

For a brand that enjoys an extremely loyal customer base across the world, Casio has big plans for Dubai when it comes to its regional expansion.
Koji Naka, managing director of Casio Middle East, revealed that Dubai will soon be home to Casio's regional headquarters as it expands into markets across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
"The Mena region is very important for us, especially the GCC which we consider to be a core market," he told Khaleej Times. "The UAE is like a showcase for us, where we present our brand image in the region. The country also makes up most of the market for us over here in the region. Area expansion has been our original vision since we established our offices here in Dubai. Since we are a very young entrant into the market, we still feel that there are lots of opportunities for us, as well as room for expansion."
Casio's mid-term plan, which will extend over a period of three years, aims to achieve more than $100 million in revenue through its Dubai-based operation office. Casio Middle East also has a target of operating businesses in more than 70 countries in Middle East and Africa during that period. In addition, the company has plans to expand its retail presence in the region by launching a number of new stores and boutiques across several key malls and shopping centres.
Speaking on the company's performance, Naka said: "2016 was a good year for us performance-wise. We expect 2017 to be a better year as the market improves, and we expand both our product range and focus on market enhancement. Our watches category are our strongest selling point and best performers, followed by our calculators segment."
He added: "As a core category, our focus will mainly be on our watch category, specifically our G-Shock brand which has new designs coming out on a regular basis. In addition, we are focusing on launching 4K projectors, as well as expanding into the music segment. Our 'Grand Hybrid' pianos are a very new concept that we have just introduced to the market, and are doing very well. We expect to see strong sales in that segment in 2017 and the coming years."
The brand has been focusing on catering to the local education sector through its latest 'ClassWiz' calculators. The models come in both Arabic and English and were introduced to the UAE and Middle East markets a little over a year ago. The product has been widely accepted in markets such as Egypt where many of the classes are still taught mainly in Arabic. Naka said that Casio is leading the industry when it comes to market share in the calculators segment.
He also noted that the company has no plans to fall behind, when it comes to retaining its already strong and loyal customer base in the region. Casio's 2016 end of year report says that the company's brand recall is very strong with 40 per cent of consumers in the Middle East naming Casio when asked to remember a watch and calculator brand. The brand focuses on creating generational products which capture the latest trends in the market. Doing so, is not an easy challenge since trends change very fast in the market.
"We are also very focused on innovation and R&D since it allows us an insight on what consumers in the market want," Naka said. "We don't just offer a good quality product, but also pair it with good service. When consumers buy any of our products, they can be certain that we will be close by to provide them with anything that they need at anytime. This perception is something that we strive to enhance."
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com