It is no secret that camera sales have been in decline for quite a few years now, mostly due to the rise of the smartphone eliminating the need for a dedicated camera for most consumers and casual photographers. 2019 was no exception, as the drop in sales continued; however, there was a small bit of good news buried within the numbers.
The Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) recently released its report for December 2019, which analyzes the entire year for the industry. As you might expect, sales declined again, as advanced digital cameras continue to be relegated to a more niche position for professionals and passionate hobbyists. This was reflected by a 22 percent overall decrease in year-over-year shipments for interchangeable lens cameras. DSLRs were particularly hard hit, with unit shipments decreasing by 32 percent with a corresponding 41 percent loss in shipped value. On the other hand, mirrorless unit sales experienced a more moderate drop of 4 percent in units shipped, with a 4 percent increase in value, supporting the suspected shift toward professional-level equipment. While we can reasonably expect the overall market to decrease, hopefully, the more advanced market will continue to grow in value and manufacturers can continue to devote research and development toward better technology.
You can read the full report here.
It’s not just smartphones, digital cameras are already really good and have been so for quite a while eliminating the motivation for many users to upgrade. Plus many of us buy used cameras and lenses now. The same effect has hurt smartphone sales.
Another thing that contributes to major shifts are the fact that photographers are focusing more on post production than they are the gear. You can find performance differences between brands and models when you pixel peep but in reality, you can produce brilliant work with any camera because camera tech is pretty homogenous across the industry. There are still only a handful of companies that have really strong image manipulation tools. –my ¢2
But at what point due you expect camera sales not to fall off? We have cameras that are better than ever now and if you can't get a good picture with the gear that's out now, you need to find another profession/hobby. I mean do they expect people to just keep buying the latest thing that comes to market every 6 months?
Yes
I appreciate the people who are always so quick to buy the newest gear because I can find great deals on craigslist if I need something.
I would love to see historical data going back through all of camera history, and not just the digital age. Things were bound to plateau. The market is flooded with good equipment. Improvements are not as exponential as they once were. I can't help but to look back at 35mm cameras and think about the Pentax k1000 which was produced for 20 years.
found that in my archives.
It's a CIPA chart for shipment of interchangeable lenses cameras, lenses, compacts and smartphones. There is no distinction between film and digital.
Here's Sony's last 10 years of sales of digital camera sales.
Source: https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/this-graph-shows-the-10-year-long-drop-o...
Well said.
This makes me appreciate the past when film was king, printing was how you shared your work, and a new camera came along about twice a decade. In five years of R&D, the difference between my EOS-1 and EOS-1N is four autofocus points. The one AF point on my original 1 still kicks ass compared to the first 5 digital bodies I owned(past tense).
I will say that film tech has improved substantially and I am loving the renaissance of analog photography. All my heroes shoot film.
It's really interesting to think about how FS will publish an article that talks about film and the comments will be filled with "why would anyone shoot film when there's all this Tech?!!". And then an article like this comes out and we all go "Why do we need new things?!"
at least in general, people are living in the moment? hah.
Considering mobile phones can do the job for the majority of people, no one should be surprised. The camera companies need to keep with the times and be innovative to attract customers. Democratise photography and make it fun to shoot. I think there is a lot that can be done. Having said, the industry will never return to its glory days of selling little point and shoots by the truck load, but a new path can be found.
I found that many people who bought advanced digital camera's don't know how to use them this has killed sales when they tell their friends that the went back to their cell phone because they couldn't figure out their DSLR's.
I talked to a women who had a Leica and was snapping shots of her kids. I asked if she was a professional or advanced armature photographer. She said no her husband bought her the Leica because he heard it was a good camera. She said it doesn't take any better pictures than her cell phone.
I have never once heard that and I have over fifteen years experience with soccer moms on a daily basis because my own kids are involved in all sorts of school and extracurricular activities.
People may not have admitted it, but it's probably true. To truly use a great camera you need to understand it, which takes a lot of time. Meanwhile automation makes the phones extremely forgiving.
Giving a beginner a Steinway will not change anything.
I can imagine it.
Normally, look at the price of the apsc canon d90, sony a6600 etc ... awful prices