Following on from some depressing financial results from Canon, new data from CIPA shows that the camera industry took a hit in March, and things are only expected to get worse in the coming months.
CIPA (Camera Imaging and Products Association) releases industry statistics for each month and the figures for March give a clear indication of how hard camera and lens manufacturers are being hit by the economic impact of the ongoing global pandemic.
CIPA’s graphs compare figures for March to those of 2019, and, as you might expect, COVID-19 is having a dramatic impact. While manufacturers shipped 1.25 million digital still cameras (DSCs) in March 2019, March 2020 saw just shy of 600,000 — a fall of more than 52%. When you consider that the figure for March 2018 was 1.68 million, it’s clear that COVID-19 is exacerbating an already dire situation.
The downturn is more pronounced for interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs). 648,701 shipped in March 2019, dropping to 276,356 in March 2020. This is a cataclysmic collapse from March 2018 when manufacturers shipped almost a million units.
Again, it raises the question: how many manufacturers will disappear as a result of this global catastrophe? The camera industry was already suffering and COVID-19 could be fatal for many of the smaller players. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
thats march, when people were starting to be isolated. so it had a bit of sales, but april will be far worse. im guessing north of 85% because people were with no jobs, panic buying, not paying rent and just spent more money then they should have.
a lot of photography areas wont go back immediately when the lock downs are opened. like weddings. it will be a while till the couples to decide to set a new date as some of them dont have money or are worried to take a risk with a weddings price tag.
I myself will not be getting anything new till at least late summer where ill assess if there is a risk covid19 might come back strong around fall.
prices are very high still though. people are going into survival mode. stock for nikon and canon have gone down. fuji, because of their medical division have made some profit.
camera equipment is a luxury-very few will buy in the upcoming months.
"As Canon pointed out in its own financial report yesterday, COVID has completely changed the economic landscape, and luxury items like Interchangeable Lens Cameras are not high on anybody’s priority list when meeting expenses like rent, utilities, food, and health care is in real jeopardy for tens of millions of people across the world."
This has to be the 1,000th article I've seen on the general subject of how bad COVID-19 is, how it's even worse than you think, how it's hitting a particular industry really hard, and how it's going to get much, much worse in the future.
I get it. And I get that the camera industry was already in trouble. But the future is just impossible to predict. Many outcomes are possible.
"But the future is just impossible to predict."
it is possible
"Many outcomes are possible."
yes, all of them bad.
its great youre optimistic though
I'm not really 'optimistic' about the camera industry; I'm no expert on that. I just feel like there's been enough apocalyptic coverage of the virus situation. We all know what it is, and that nothing will be clear until we get unlimited testing so we can see who's infected; and after that, we'll find a way forward. Yes most businesses are stopped, but it's not like 2008 when the financial system suddenly collapsed because of greed and corruption, and couldn't be easily fixed. When this virus is well understood the problems will be solved and normalcy will return.
So enough with the hand-wringing, let's try to start looking ahead.
It isn't just the camera makers that were in trouble, it's photgraphy itself. Weddings, events, now being "shot" with phones; the public's whole idea of imagery has changed, to something less formal and more spontaneous. It's like clothing in the 60s when suits and ties started being replaced with "business casual". People get all the imagery of the world they want, free, on phones and tablets; who needs to buy prints for their walls? Better to just put up more kid pictures.
Here on FStoppers I see more and more articles about the problem of "staying inspired" and how to make any money at all in the business.
Viruses will come and go but I think that somehow, "photographers" have to start offering something in imagery that can't be had with a phone and zero skill level, and it's not just image quality, it has to be something that people really want when they see it. When photgraphers figure that out, the camera industry will follow.
yes I see covid 19 has had an effect on you. your thoughts are all over the place.