On the heels of celebrating the 50th anniversary of China-Hong Kong Photo Products Holdings’ partnership with Fujifilm, CEO Stanley Sun sat down to tell us about negotiating a difficult industry transition and what’s in store for his family business
“My grandfather Sun Chieh-yeh went to Fujifilm Japan and convinced them to grant their sole distributorship to him in 1968,” says Stanley Sun, CEO and deputy chairman of China-Hong Kong Photo Products Holdings, recalling the intrepid beginning of the family business’s affiliation with the photography giant.
The fact that the collaboration is still thriving—only in August the partners marked Fujifilm’s 50th year in the city with a highly anticipated touring photography exhibition called Home—is no surprise given the tenacity and acute eye for opportunity long displayed by the Sun family, not least its current generation.
Since taking over the family business in 2005, Stanley, a Cornell graduate, is widely credited with revolutionising it in the face of the disruption sweeping the photography sector by diversifying its portfolio—to which, alongside the photography business, he has added shampoo, stationary and even skincare products.
Here, the enterprising businessman talks about his business philosophy and what else he has up his sleeve.
How has your business stayed so successful despite its original focus, camera film, being threatened with obsolescence?
We’ve never stop innovating our products and services. Although film is no longer an important part of photography, Fujifilm has invested heavily in digital photography, from digital printing to even artificial intelligence.
Our other business, Fotomax (now run by Stanley’s brother, Ryan) went through a similar digital revolution; we’ve diversified our offerings from just printing personalisation products and services-based businesses.
The cosmetic business started in 2010 with our skincare line, Astalift, that harnesses Fujifilm’s know-how in collagen research and nano-technology. The AV equipment business (AV Life, Life Electric and Life Digital) was acquired in 2012. Diversifying our investments has been crucial for us to keep abreast of the times.