Latest CIPA data show that the 3 year long camera market collapsing may have reached the bottom of the bottle. So is there now some hope to see some growth again? The Mayflower agency analyzed the data and writes:
Using so-called 12 month rolling data* there seems to be at first sight a reassurance of the market. However, unfortunately, this is a misleading interpretation of reality. After transferring the CIPA data into local currencies using historical exchange rates , it becomes clear that the camera makers at best achieve stable average prices .
Damn, doesnt sound good if true!
More info: Maryflower.
13 Responses
That’s a compact camera collapse, where the manufacturers need to put bigger sensors and better optics instead of megapixels.
Let’s not fool ourselves here: the RX100 et al have not sparked a compact camera recovery in a broad sense. We, the enthusiasts and working professionals who like big sensors (and we cannot lie) won’t keep compacts from nose-diving. The only “need” on the part of the manufacturers is to acclimate to the new market, where compact cameras are relatively niche products and are never gonna hit the peaks of the pre-iPhone past.
It’s weird to say, but it seems of the the photo marques, Zeiss is the one with the best attitude towards the compact market. They got involved early on with niche, high quality Sony compacts, and they also invested heavily in the still relatively-undeveloped world of mobile optics.
If there’s a future for Ixus, Powershot, Coolpix and Cybershot, it’s in collaboration with the smartphone brands.
Its not a collapse at all. Its a shift from camera types included in the diagram to camera types not included. Camera sensor companies shows a total large increase in camera sensor sales over the past 5 years and the increase is expected to continue. Not just because of increased phone sales but also because of a coming trend of dual back cameras in 2016. In the past part of the increase comes from adding front selfie cameras.
Another note to the diagram is that CIPA only includes japanese production, so Samsung cameras are excluded. I guess Samsung probably have an increase of mirrorless camera sales over the past few years. Market share shifts in the compact camera marked may also affect CIPA (Japanese) production vs global total compact camera production.
All in all camera sales are increasing, its only the form factor and additional device functions that shift.
Camera sensors are used in robots that is the reason for the rise in production
Robots are a much lower volume market then consumer phone cameras. It does contribute to increased sales, but not as much as phones contribute.
Not for long as the bots get cheaper plus there are cars ,bikes, CTV my fridge etc
CIPA data breaks down the camera categories. If you look at its mirrorless interchangeable data, the stats shows 3% increase for Jan-Aug (latest update) over the same period last yr. Shipment to America, Europe and Asia (except Japan) increased even more, close to 7%.
thats just a hiccup due to sebastian vettel having bought the new 8 grand mirrorless leica..
I’m not surprised, compact cameras have not interested me in quite some time, most people I know use their phone, even if they own a compact camera, just because social and it’s already in your pocket.
As an enthusiast I kept a compact camera on my body, in a pocket, for the longest time. Now I’ve stopped with cargo pants though, so for everyday life, I also only have my phone. I always bring a mirrorless when going out on a walk or trip though.
And, in the graph, the mirrorless and SLR market looks fairly stable to me, which honestly is the segment I’m interested in.
Am I the only one who feels eye sick looking on this chart? 🙂
If this plateaus at this level for mirrorless + dslr, then we are only looking at 10-15 million pieces sold per year for the entire industry. CIPA is trying to keep a positive spin, but this is a disaster for the business of stand alone camera.
Cameras are going the way of the type-writer.
It’s “Mayflower”, not “Maryflower”.
Not a word about the price ? I guess a drop by 20% of the production is no big deal if, in the same time, the average price rise by 30%