GE-Branded Digital Cameras Debut At PMA

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 2/26/2007

TORRANCE, CALIF. — General Imaging, a newly formed digital camera marketing firm, will introduce a line of GE-branded digital cameras and a photo printer at the Photo Marketing Association trade show on March 8.

"I don't believe the digital camera market has matured yet," Hiroshi Komiya, General Imaging CEO, told TWICE. He added that General Imaging's GE cameras could find a home in a still-expanding market thanks to strong product design and brand recognition.

Komiya was formerly president of Olympus before retiring in 2005. He was lured out of his brief hiatus in 2006 when he learned that GE was searching for a partner to license its brand for use on digital cameras.

The General Imaging GE product line will consist of eight cameras and one printer, set to ship in April.

Few specific details were released about the models at press time, but they will be the first digital cameras to wear the GE brand. A company statement noted that image stabilization, high ISO and panoramic stitching will be common to all models.

The entry-level models will have 7-megapixel sensors and a 2.5-inch LCD screen while higher-end models will offer up to 12-megapixel resolutions and a 3-inch LCD screen.

Komiya said the company has just begun to show the product line to dealers and will begin courting retailers in earnest at PMA.

"I believe the GE brand is as strong as" other brands currently dominating the camera market, he said.

The company has recruited Rene Buhay to head North American sales. Buhay was global sales VP at the software firm Arcsoft, and also led sales efforts at Samsung and Ricoh. Takeyoshi Kawano, the firm's chief designer, has worked on the Sony Walkman and VAIO computer as well as Olympus' Stylus camera series. memory. It will retail for $199.