CIPA, the organisation representing the Japanese camera and lens manufacturers, publishes monthly production and shipment figures and each year also tips what it thinks next years figures might be.
It’s predictions tend to be there or thereabouts accurate.
Having gone through two pretty lean Covid years, with supply problems adding to the retailing woes of 2021, one would have hoped for a sunnier 2022, but that’s not how the CIPA analysts see it.
‘In 2022, according to CIPA, ‘the total shipments of digital cameras will be 7,850,000 units, 93.9 percent of the previous year.’ (Geez!)
Compact cameras continue to drag down total shipments: ‘By category, 2,560,000 units for built–in lens digital cameras, which is 85 percent of the previous year, and 5,290,000 units for interchangeable lens digital cameras, at 98.9 percent (of 2021 figures).’
CIPA doesn’t really offer any insights as to why it predicts such uninspiring figures for this year, but after two years of patchy supply, ongoing supply problems are more likely to be involved, rather than anything on the demand side.
CIPA has also released January 2022 shipment figures, and so far they aren’t wrong in predicting an ordinary year for cameras, with overall figures at 91 percent of January 2021, and compacts down to 81 percent of 2021 figures. DSLRs continue to fall away, more so in falling average prices, while mirrorless cameras shipped in January 2022 were line ball in volumes to January 2021 – but a full 30 percent up on value.
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