Sony shares climbing during the last three months (December-January-February). Image source: Blog Naver.
Sony’s dream to overturn Canon on the system camera market became truth in one country: South Korea! In February Sony beat Canon by a margin of 0.1% only and now owns 33,163% of the overall system camera market in Korea. The reason hwy this happens is easy: Asian countries are shifting towards mirrorless system cameras while Europe and North American stills tick to DSLR systems. In Q4 of 2013 the mirrorless sales iN Korea climbed up to 58% of the system camera market (DSLR drops to 42%).
Sony now has to focus on “Western countries” to repeat the success they have in Asia.
Source: Blog Naver. Thanks S. Park for sending this 🙂
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So the tables have finally turned…
Can you imagine what the a9 will do for mirrorless sales. What were those specs and release dates again? I seemed to have forgotten. Might as well throw in those FF A mount rumors too.
<$2k A7s price will help.
Ok so they sold more systems
now hurry up and produce more good glass! :v
Its probably not going to happen. The segment of the market they’ve taken is the low end, (Canon Rebel) where consumers generally only use the included kit lens, and maybe a 55-200mm zoom if its cheap enough.
Its only high end users (enthusiasts, semi-pro, or professional) that tend to buy allot of expensive glass.
Great news for Sony!!….Canon is looking more and more like a dinosaur….
LOL , yes a dinosaur that will have single rebel models that will sell more than the entirety of Sony’s mirrorless cameras added together. Though it doesn’t seem to concern mirrorless fans the huge losses made by all the key mirrorless players imaging divisions, is the real concern and when or if Canon & Nikon feel the need to release serious mirrorless system camera, Sony Olympus et al will be in big trouble.
Did you not read to above article??…Like every large Dinosaur Canon/Nikon take a long time to change direction. If Canon and Nikon felt the need to work on mirrorless technology they should have started a number of years ago. If they are only starting now they can kiss serious market share goodbye…The worm has turned…DSLRs are an anachronism…Having come from using Canon…I got sick of them selling me the same camera for the last 10 years. Pretending that they were giving me the world…I use the 5D mark 3 for work most days. The A7 RAW file is far superior..No question
Could you share the relevant numbers indicating that Sony is specifically losing money on mirrorless cameras or even ILC’s in general?
Rhetorical one.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Canon’s mass produced, cheap, plastic DSLRs (Rebels) are losing their appeal. They offer little in the way of performance or innovation. Whereas the Sony Axxxx offer a compelling set of features, and performance without the bulk.
I believe the compact APS-C mirror-less cameras like the A5000, A6000 will eventually dominate the low end of the ILC market.
One small Asian market is hardly an indicator of anything. I would be prepared to wager that those cheap, plastic rebels will sell more than every camera Sony makes put together.
It’s that Canary in the mine.
Purely based on personal observation, it seems that mirrorless is doing well in Japan and Korea, but DSLRs still rule in China, which is of course a far bigger market than either. But changing tides.
Yes.. but that will change VERY quickly 🙂
innovativeI don’t think it’ll change very quickly in China…don’t forget they are (top put it bluntly) a new money society where flashy ostentacious consumption is the norm. DSLRS range from cheap as chips to properly expensive but regardless, they have the appearance of exclusivity and wealth. Mirrorless just doesn’t have the same brag factor. It will take a long time to change that mindset.
Korea is a significant market because they’re so tech forward and are early adopters. For a country that is very nationalistic and loyal to its own brands, Sony’s definitely doing it right being the most innovative.
I meant: quickly as in 5-7 years. I probably got too excited.. realistically.. give it 10 years.
The majority of chinese people can’t afford to buy a camera.
NEX-3N is about 2200RMB.. which is alot more than what average chinese workers make.
But there is a huge potential there since Chinese youngsters (and oldsters) are crazy about blogging. Possibly a Chinese company catches on and starts pumping out cheap apsc or m43 cameras for masses.
I’m from China so here is some information…
I don’t know the exact number, but DSLRs are indeed very popular among the retired people in China. These people usually know very little about cameras (or computers, smartphones, etc…) so they just pick the product which looks “professional”, in other words, big and heavy…
Aaron, it is good to be so optimistic but the numbers do not suggest this at all. 2013 data { the last full year} shows that 74% of all cameras shipped to Asia were DSLR’s.Even in Japan the bastion of mirrorless 63% of cameras shipped are DSLR. in Europe it is 87% DSLR in the Americas its 90%.
http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-2013_e.pdf
in terms of europe and american market… i have no comments. But my guess is that most of europeans and americans who purchase ILCs are enthusiasts and most of enthusaists all over the world prefer DSLRs.
Mirrorless market in Japan will catch up as long as Sony and other big markets keep pumping out cheap cameras. I see alot more people recommending mirrorless over dslr on major blog sites there. The trend is starting.. apparently it isn’t catching on as fast as Korea.
The numbers CIPA suggest a trend.
This year worldwide:
DSLR -16%
Mirrorless + 24%
Of all the large markets, only in Japan DSLR’s are having a good year sofar.
Japan:
DSLR + 81%
Mirrorless plus 26 %
Europe:
DSLR – 41%
Mirrorless + 26%
Americas:
DSLR – 32%
Mirrorless – 34%
Asia (minus Japan):
DSLR – 3%
Mirrorless + 47%
Rest of the world:
DSLR +25%
Mirrorless + 97%
Sony kick ass Canon
I have trouble getting to sleep. Thankfully, the articles on this site help cure my insomnia.
When Sony makes the mirrorless as big as DSLR, that will boost the sale further.
Well not surprising.. i see so many people with NEX cameras in korea. (Me included)
The price is super cheap and people rather get mirrorless over point n shoot since they can achieve that DSLR quality.
As long they keep pumping out cheap mirrorless cameras for the public.. they will continue to dominate.
Go sony, dominate the mobile share market too
“As a result of their innovations, the products that Minolta launched with The William Esty Company increased their camera sales from third, behind Canon & Nikon, to first in the U.S. marketplace.)”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minolta
Not so impossible to take the crown.
“It’s deja vu all over again.”
Yogi Berra
That was really just a glitch caused by Minolta’s lead in AF and it was 30yr ago. DSLR still accounted for 82% of sales last year. A market Sony have just about disappeared from
Down to 76% as we speak.
We are simply entering the cross over phase from DSLR to mirror-less. In the same way that the industry crossed over to digital (But will no doubt take a bit longer in this instance)…” That Mr Anderson is the sound of inevitability…”
Congrats Sony!
I had doubts about the old NEX system, now with just Alpha byname
NEX dont kill Alpha line, it become the Alpha line
i was one that keep telling A mount doom predictions guys, it will never happend
but 3 years after, when only a couple of bodies from A mount had seen the dayligth
A mount lineup keep shrinking, and even came with downgrades like the a58
that for the last 3 years we see ZERO really new A mount lenses
while E mount lenses had rise with speed of ligth
even making a roadmap for 15 lenses for E mount, not a word about A
3 new alpha 7 cameras that make the top of the line a99, not so top of the line
im sorry i doubt their word, im sorry to cheer the old champ into retire
theres really no reason NOW to buy an SLT/DSLR/A mount camera
i hope sony follow sigma at pricing the a7s, like sigma did with the 50mm Art
as in low price to dominate and put presaure in rivals, like they did with PS4
and not sony old way, when they had a really wanted product
and make it even more expensive than original price because of high demand
sadly a7 sensor was an a99 sensor, a7r was an D800E sensor
a7s its a total new sensor so sony will want to level R&D money
but if they put it close to $2000 rather than close to $3000
i will do something i thougth will never do 3 years ago
buying my new cameras with a mount that its not A mount
nevermind, if its not a7s because price, then a7 + SLT A mount adapter will do
i seen the write on the wall 3 years ago, i was fool
now its just reality, a brave new world
I have owned my a55 for 3 years now and thinking to change to a flagship A mount APS-C (like successor of A77), but I have been thinking to of you are saying in the past of few months, I don’t see Sony is trying to invest and expand their A mount market, all I see is E mount E mount and E mount, now I am kinda rely on Sigma to announce their new lenses with A mount. So I don’t have to change to a new system at the end of this year. Otherwise in the end of this year, I will probably give up A mount and jump to A7 or D610
A couple of misinformation in your post. First off the A58 was a replacement for the A37. It was/is a cheaper model than the A57 and is better in many ways than the A37.
2. Agreed many of Sony A mount releases are MK II versions but they did release a 500mm f4, 55-300mm, 18-135mm in 2012 and the CZ 50mm f1.4 lens in 2013 so its not true that nothing was released in the last 3 years. Similarly Tamron and Sigma are releasing almost all their new lenses in A mount.
3. The A99 has a much better tilt,swivel LCD, better tracking AF, better battery life, much more external controls, IBIS and a much much bigger lens line up. The A7, A7r are no doubt interesting and good cameras but they have different target audiences.
4. The A mount is a mature system, it doesn’t get as many new cameras every year. The E mount is a new immature system thats why it gets about as many camera launches as lens launches.
5. The A77 II is rumored to be launched anytime now.
So while the E mount system will become the defacto system in future, the A mount is far from dead ATM.
Actually, the A58 replaced both the A37 and A57. That’s why Sony positioned it between them in terms of features. Both the A37 and A57 have been discontinued.
That Tamron and Sigma release A-mount lenses have nothing to do with Sony. A manufacturer is expected to support and develop its own system, and shouldn’t neglect that, just because there are third-party makers who release reverse engineered lenses for their mount.
True the A58 replaced both but its also cheaper than the A57 so its not an upgrade at all.
And Sony has come out with a few MK II versions of lenses like 70-200mm f2.8, 70-400mm SSM, 300mm f2.8 MK II so they are churning out new stuff even if you aren’t interested in such lenses.
i mostly never reply to anyone who reply to me
but you take the time to read it, and make good points
so i will make an exception
1. but in the end, the line of A mount cameras is shrinking like i said
2. i said 3 years, because i feel that way, never check to accuracy, by the way i buy both, the 55-300 (to replace my 75-300) and 18-135 (for me better than 18-200) to use in my a77 that i owned for 2 years and its the latest great A mount camera IMLO
3. the a99 is simple an a77 with a FF sensor, it has the same chip, same AF, same body, etc. Inovation its the path to the future, and any of the A7 has more than the a99 can dream (by the way now i own an a99, cause you know, everyone eventually go FF)
4. sony released the a99 and nobody really cheer it, sony released the a7 series and everyone talk and want them, if you were sony, where you put your money? the lens roadmap of E mount and tons of E mounts bodies planed for future release give you an answer, for some a painfully reality
5. so they keep saying, but reality is that sony cant move a37, a65 and a77 from some regions, they make firesale after firesale for the last year to clear inventory, and you say it a77 II, look “II” as in just revisions, sadly the a57 that sold like hot cakes (actually the most quickly sold out SLT camera ever) was replaced by an inferior camera, so sales of A mount cameras satlled for the last year and a half.
The A mount is not dead, and certainly 3er lenses manufacters will keep releasing lenses for A mount, but sony will?
Will they sell an A mount camera ever again? (thats not a revision but a groundbreaking new tech camera, like SLT was)
If you were to enter DSLR market, honestly, will you chose A mount? looking that all sony weigth its on E mount, that lenses and cameras keep shrinking in A while E xpand like crazy.
You make very valid point but Sony has an existing A mount base and thats far bigger than the E mount base mainly because the A mount is also much older.
Sony can’t really afford to abandon its fairly large base just like that without any real bridge for A mount guys to switch to E mount.
Until a sort of hybrid mount camera or some el cheapo adapter is available, Sony will have to support the A mount as well.
The A mount is the only system Sony has that is somewhat close to complete. The E mount is too immature at the moment.
Dunno about cameras but I’m suddenly craving for a smoke
It just means that Sony sells more mirrorless system cameras (and that means Nex, Alpha7) than Canon with their Canon M system. It´s sad that Canon with it´s awful M system almost sells as well as the whole Sony lineup.
And only in Korea – by no means a big or important market. Everywhere else, Canon still outsells Sony – what a shame.
To pull down a wall you must first remove one brick
The percentage reported is for the system camera market, not just the mirrorless part of it. So Sony A- and E-mount beat Canon DSLRs and EOS M by a margin of 0.1%.
Also, South Korea is neither a small nor unimportant market by any normal standards. It’s one of the world’s 20 largest economies, and one of the largest consumer electronics markets.
However, I don’t think we should make too much out of the fact that Sony beats Canon by a very small margin in a single country during a short period of time. Let’s see what the future brings before we start the celebration.
I like that “they are Asians so their market doesn’t matter in a world ruled by White People(TM)” mindset. Really reveals a lot about their education.
Or it could be the fact that Asia consists of 4.3 billion people with South- Korea’s population of 50million making up just over 1% of this so it is a tiny market.
In the whole of Asia { excluding Japan they like to set themselves in a category of one lol } in 2013 1,271,211 mirrorless cameras were shipped .Even allowing for South Korea’s wealthier market and multiplying their share of the Asian market by 5 fold to 6% that would mean total shipments of all mirrorless to South Korea would account for 76,000 units. Then work out Sony’s share from there. Even if Sony dominate the mirrorless sales , it is a small market .
“Korea by no means a big or important market” – A fool speaks without thinking.
Read the OP before replying with nonsense.
are you sure that’s not the tabacco market share?
Weed. Hehehe.
Congrats Sony. That’s the reward for beeing the currently most (and only) innovative camera manufacturer. If the A7S sells below 2K$ this will develop the position further.
Pricing the A7s fairly would help. 🙂
The world has come to an end. One question though – what happened to Samsung?
They are reigning supreme with mobile phones and TVs. Not just in Korea but worldwide.
I can see that. What surprised me is their camera sales. It’s not that they don’t make good cameras, they do but they’re losing even in their own country. Price factor? Brand recognition?
No idea. I bought the NX before the NEX debuted. Though a far better camera (EVF and all), I dumped it for a NEX-5. I did not like the mount (the E mount is “universal” like that of the m43rds) of the NX. Their first gen sensor was not all that great either. I don’t know if that puts people off in general.
Samsung merged their Camera and phone divisions about 6 months ago…I think perhaps they have given up on the camera market to concentrate on smart phone tech??
Mirrorless shipments rose 33.7% in Feb 2014 compared to Feb 2013 mainly due to “gaining demand in international market outside Japan in addition to continued strong demand at home”
In the UK mirrorless sales shot up by 19% in value in Jana and Feb 2014 (according to research firm GfK)
That’s great and all, but Sony should give the customers what they want in each market, and that means making a better DSLR than Canon/Nikon.
That’s what common sense would dictate but SAR is dominated by Sony compact mirrorless fanboys for which killing off the ‘rival’ a-mount is a religion.
I’m of the highly unpopular opinion (here) Sony has the engineering chops to compete with Canikon and what we’re seeing is mostly a failure of marketing. However, if the e-mount fanboys are right and Sony is too incompetent to compete with Canikon in DSLRs then why are we to suppose Canikon won’t bury Sony in mirrorless if they take the segment seriously? The reason weaklings like Fuji, Panasonic, and Olympus switched completely to mirrorless was failure competing with Canikon. That’s why Sony is pushing mirrorless is because they’re apparently incapable of competing with Canikon head on. Sad!
I’m afraid you’re probably right. Still, I hold out hope for a better tomorrow . . .
Is there a source for the sales, other than another blog?
Are we talking about sales in units or sales in currency?
Also, with these kind of numbers given- a 0.1% lead- what is the margin of error?
I don’t read Korean, but the caption under the image says “Sony shares climbing during the last three months,” but the image itself shows a sort of cigarette graph labelled 2012, 2013, 2014.
Finally, beyond the gross sales, what is the comparison on income for the two companies (eg, sales may be higher but margin higher, or v.v.).
Thank you.
Not sure how to find their source, but this is the site which “Blog Naver” was quoting:
http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2014040311024158050
lol. A cigarette graph!
This is about market share, and that’s usually based on sales volume (units sold), not sales value or profit. So market share is only one metric by which companies may be compared, but it seems to be the one that the companies themselves prefer to highlight.
Canon digital beat pentax film, slow evolving pentax tech same as nokia. Canon are next if they keep using 5 years old 18 mpix tech sensor for another 5 year.
Untill some sony tech are mature, canon will be only a lens manufacture
Canon designed its 120 megapixel sensor back in 2010-11 if I remember correctly. So, I’m sure Canon’s old 18 megapixel sensor is just pure marketing. If people buy these cameras, why not to use the old sensor?
What Sony is doing in terms of sensor design and bringing very interesting cameras is great. Will see how its customer support goes. If it gets to the level of Canon, I’ll consider Sony very seriously.
If by ‘system cameras’ they mean E-Mount, I’m not impressed.
When A-Mount cameras beat Canikon DSLRs, that would be something to talk about…
This is the real game… not A mount special olympics
The interesting aspect of the A7/FE line is the modular engineering of the camera. Which I am sure was designed that way for a reason… So within 6 months we get 3x cameras all very different, but very much based on the same modular chassis.
The benefits of this way of manufacturing cameras, is that no longer will we have to wait 4 years between camera cycles. We will see new cameras much more frequently as Sony pushes new tech out to market a lot more quickly than traditional camera manufactures…. It will be interesting to see if they bring this philosophy to the A mount line, as it is the ONLY way that it can survive… Otherwise it simply won’t be able to keep up with tech development…The 4 year camera cycle is dead.
As for people complaining about cameras being updated faster than lenses. Don’t worry about it…As the old saying goes…”Cameras are for christmas…Lenses are for life”…get you lens kit sorted then let the cameras role on.
Some people still dont have any knowledge about physics.
Again
If Sony would include IBIS on E-Mount, they would have to increase the distance between the sensor and the lense.
If Sony would create faster lenses, they would get bigger.
E-Mount with IBIS and fast lenses _is_ A-Mount.
Why do people still say “If Sony would include ibis and fast lenses, a-mount fanboys would shut up”? Thats absolutely stupid as the result _would_ be A-Mount.
What people actually want is a camera which is against the law of physics.
E-Mount == ( A-Mount – IBIS – Fast-Lenses )
or
A-Mount == ( E-Mount + IBIS + Fast-Lenses )
So please stop complaining about E-Mount not having IBIS and fast lenses, it would be A-Mount then and shitty E-Mount fanboys seems to hate A-Mount, so why do you want it?
To throw in my personal opinion. If there wouldnt be Sigma, i would already have sold my a99.
The 50mm Zeiss for Sony is a whole disappointment and the 35mm from Sony G is one of the worst lenses over 500 € i ever seen! And it costs more than 1000!!!
Sigma is the only one who is interested in developing the best high-class lenses on the market and Sigma is known for being slow about A-Mount (some lenses like the 50-150mm f/2.8 APS-C never get released for A-Mount).
So even when Sony produces the best cameras, you maybe can convince marketing apes with that, but not professionals. Professionals know that lenses are most important and this is where Sony sucks most by far, especially at A-Mount.
Also professionals include mass inertia into their calculations.
An A7 35mm f/2.8 compared to an a99 + Sigma 35mm f/1.4 you loose, hold your berath
7 STOPS OF LIGHT!
Calculate it yourself. You gain about 5,5 f-stops with IBIS + Mass Inertia and you have 1,4 Stops more light from the beginning. That is 7 Stops more light.
This is the difference between ISO 100 and ISO 12’800
People get over excited about the A7s being so light-sensitive and being the best low-light camera on the Market.
It is not! In the end, the A7s still have more noise than a a99 because the immense lack of stabilisation and non-fast lenses.
Sony may dominate the System Camera market, but the customers get more and more clever and there will be a point where people start to accept that its impossible to break the law of physics.
Also people start to see that, except the overpriced zeiss lenses, sony is producing the _worst_ lenses on the market. I cant count how many records the 16-50mm PZ broke for being the worst KIT-Lense ever.
If Canon starts to Counter with a good product, Sony have lost again and is where it always was.
The only thing Sony have is good cameras, thats all. They produce shitty lenses and are not willing to change that. Zeiss is producing overpriced lenses and is not willing to change that.
I’m not surprised at this statistic….definitely Asia is more embracing of the mirrorless camera than North Americans that are still clinging to their big DSLRs with the conception that it’s more superior
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DSLRs can be much cheaper in price for equivalent quality. They can offer far superior viewing- infinite resolution, accurate color, contrast, dynamic range rendering, zero lag, zero tearing- of the sort that mirrorless is continuing striving toward (the closer mirrorless is to DSLR viewing, the better we rank the EVF quality). They can offer far faster performance.
In short, there are areas where DSLRs are definitely superior.
As to the jingoistic stuff, one can make up excuses to cover all bases, so why don’t we just not go there.
Sure. What you described would be applicable more to the professional photographer that demand that extra 5% of performance. For causal and even enthusiast photographers, the mirrorless camera can satisfy most if not all of their needs. Whether they need that DSLR format is a preference and apparently I’m saying that North Americans are still clinging onto that format without understanding that mirrorless can provide all their needs plus the added benefit of light/compactness.
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Perhaps North Americans have made an informed judgement based on their own findings of superior price/performance/feature/vendor viability.
How is this freedom of choice by the consumer any more ‘clinging’ than any other mass produced consumer toy purchase? Or is this just one more of those typical inane interweb things… I bought A, therefore it’s better, and therefore anyone who bought B is stupid.
More importantly. The effort to deride a consumer segment is just another excuse. It’s blaming the customer when the manufacturer is having trouble selling the product. Somehow it’s the customer’s fault when the corporation fails.
if you think all North Americans have made “informed” judgement then your assumption is actually very misinformed. Do you know how many people just buy into the DSLR format just because they think it’s “better” than mirrorless? A lot of people make that generalization without informed judgement applied. That is what I was referring to.
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I disagree, look at canon rebel line which is probably the best dslr seller, low iq, the live view autofocus is a joke, lacking several features, 3 ,5 fps wow
I love statistics… but I also love it more when they are meaningful. These numbers don’t tell the full story so it isn’t possible to see if this is bid deal or not. Sony has managed to jump in front of Canon in one country… but what is the total size of that market and is that market growing or shrinking. Too many little nagging question for anyone to jump for joy just yet.