By John Gilbert
SHAH ALAM: Malaysia’s creative economy is steadily expanding, with the clearest shift being the rise of everyday creators turning passion into income, and small businesses scaling up their content output.
Canon Marketing Malaysia Sdn Bhd head of division, personal system devices, Sandy Lee said the strongest demand momentum is coming from prosumer users and SME-based creators.
“We are currently seeing the strongest momentum within the prosumer and SME creator segment. This group sits at a very interesting intersection where users are no longer simply creating for passion, but are actively scaling their work,“ she told SunBiz in an interview.
This shift is reflected in Canon’s product performance in Malaysia, Lee said, adding that the growth of Malaysia’s creator economy has fundamentally shifted the way the company think about its role.
“Previously, the focus was on helping users create. Today, it is about helping them create, produce and ultimately sell. This has influenced how we develop and position our solutions locally. Our ecosystem now supports the full creator journey, from high-volume ink tank printers to printer-and-cutter workflows for on-demand merchandise such as stickers, labels, and art prints to compact solutions designed for small-batch and on-the-spot production,“ she said.
“Backed by Canon’s 30-year leadership as Malaysia’s No.1 inkjet printer brand, we remain committed to making professional print technology more accessible for creators and small businesses.
“Guided by our Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good, we want to continue supporting Malaysia’s growing creative economy by helping creators turn their passion into sustainable opportunities,“ Lee said.
She added that Canon Malaysia is also seeing creators become far more selective in how they upgrade.
Rather than broadly “trading down”, many are prioritising tools that offer stronger long-term value, efficiency, and income-generation potential.
“Our recent participation in the KL Illustration Fair (KLIF) reflects this direction clearly. We were not there simply to showcase technology. We were there to demonstrate how creators can transform ideas into tangible, sellable products immediately,“ Lee said.
More broadly, she added, the shift Canon Malaysia observes is not simply from ownership to subscription, but from “products” to “solutions”.
“Customers today are no longer just asking, ‘Which printer should I buy?’ Instead, they are asking, ‘How can print add measurable value to my business or creative practice?’ That is ultimately the conversation we want to lead,“ Lee said.
She added that the company continues to record strong growth in its ink tank printer segment, supporting its long-standing position as Malaysia’s No. 1 inkjet printer brand for 30 consecutive years, based on IDC Quarterly Hardcopy Peripheral Tracker data for fourth-qaurter 2025, while entry-level cartridge printers, meanwhile, continue to hold steady demand among more price-conscious users.
Lee noted that the trend points to a more deliberate buying pattern among Malaysian creators and small businesses, who are increasingly weighing upfront cost against long-term productivity and scalability. The prosumer segment, she added, is the clearest reflection of this shift in behaviour.
“Today’s creators are looking beyond digital content and turning their ideas into tangible products that can be personalised, sold, and scaled.
“Through Canon’s collaboration with Siser, our integrated print-and-cut solution helps creators move seamlessly from design to finished output, empowering them to produce high-quality stickers, labels, apparel transfers, and merchandise with greater ease and confidence,“ Lee said.
When asked how Canon Malaysia see its repositioning within the orange economy by 2030, Lee said the company is evolving into a creative ecosystem enabler, powered by long-standing strength in imaging technology.
“Hardware will always remain important, but it is no longer the end product.
“Our focus is increasingly on building integrated workflows that support creators across the entire journey, from ideation and production, spanning both digital and physical outputs.
“We see a significant opportunity to help creators bridge the online content world and tangible products such as premium prints, branded merchandise, and physical creative assets that deliver lasting value,“ Lee said.
Moving on, Lee said digital platforms have undoubtedly transformed how content is distributed and consumed. However, they do not replace the importance of quality, originality, and creative differentiation.
She said the continued growth of events such as KL Illustration Fair, with visitor numbers increasing significantly year after year, demonstrates that demand for tangible, physical, and original creative work remains strong.
“In a world saturated with digital content, what ultimately stands out is quality and uniqueness. Canon remains relevant by supporting creators beyond the screen, enabling them to translate ideas into physical products, merchandise, branding assets, and high-quality outputs that create real value.
“Platforms may amplify content, but the tools creators use still shape what is worth amplifying in the first place,“ Lee said.
At the recently held KLIF 2026, Canon Marketing is making a community investment.
Through a three-way commitment to Dasein Academy students, working illustrators, and the wider KLIF ecosystem, Canon is positioning professional print technology as a tool for social and economic uplift within Malaysia’s fast-growing creative sector.
Overall, Canon Malaysia sees Malaysia’s creator economy is maturing, with prosumers and SMEs increasingly turning content creation into income-generating activities. The company is evolving from a hardware provider to an integrated solutions partner, supporting the full creator journey from ideation to sellable outputs.
“We are capitalising on growing demand for value-driven, end-to-end workflows that transform design to high-quality printed end products,“ Lee said.
Source: canon-malaysia-resets-focus-as-countrys-creative-economy-evolves
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