Exactly three years ago (August 18) Sony announced their to date last entry-level E-mount camera, the A5100. There may be a 5300 coming but this kind of “budget” system cameras could soon be dead. Dpreview writes that “Smartphones killed the compact and now they’re coming for entry-level ILCs“:
Once smartphones can do a reasonably good imitation of things like bokeh and optical zoom, those who never wanted to pick up a dedicated camera won’t have to. Lots of people who do want the image quality benefits traditionally associated with a DSLR actually want nothing to do with a DSLR. They’re big, confusing and come with a significant learning curve.
I think they are spot on with that “prediction”. The entry-level system camera market is shrinking and the profit margin on those kind of cameras is very small. I see it likely that in 3-4 years from now we will only have a market for high-end APS-C or FF cameras. And their price will keep climbing to offset the declining entry-level business. Still, I do not think Smartphone will ever kill the High End Camera Market. Or maybe I am just being naive?