Positive camera sales results from Canon and Nikon combined with rising camera shipment data from CIPA for the first half of 2022 hint that the decade-long decline in camera demand might be finally levelling out.
In June just past, camera shipments hit the highest monthly level since Covid smashed the world economy in March, 2020.
While shipments of compact cameras and to a lesser extent DSLRs continue to decline, mirrorless interchangeables are 9 percent up on 2021 levels and 34 percent up in value terms.
Mirrorless sales now represent approximately half of all cameras sales – DSLRs and compact cameras the other half. That’s in unit terms. In value terms ‘it’s mirrorless first daylight second’, with DSLRs and compacts battling it out for waning relevance.
According to a recent report by Japanese news agency Nikkei, the compact camera market is just 3 percent of what it was at its peak – dropping from 111 million cameras in 2008 to just 3 million in 2021.
CIPA values compact camera shipments Jan-June at 28 billion yen, DSLRs at 40 billion yen, and mirrorlss cameras at a whopping 210 billion yen. Put another way, the total market for camera shipments is valued at 279 billion yen and mirrorless cameras account for 210 billion of that total.
‘CIPA values compact camera shipments for the first half of 2022 at 28 billion yen, DSLRs at 40 billion yen, and mirrorless cameras at a whopping 210 billion yen…’
Production figures, a lagging indicator for shipments and sales, show the trend for increased mirrorless camera shipments continuing, up 19 percent for the Jan-June period in units terms (compared to Jan-June 2021) and 38 percent in value terms.
Canon, Nikon positive
These production and shipment figures are buttressed by positive noises from Nikon and Canon regarding their camera businesses.
Responding to analyst’s questions in a session on its half-yearly results from Jan-June 2022, Canon stated ‘the camera market has largely bottomed out at its current size’, and that ‘going forward, we expect the professional and advanced amateur segment to expand further and that products will become more highly developed. Accordingly, we expect the overall market to grow from now on.
‘As for DSLR cameras, we will continue to supply products as long as there is demand.’
While Canon’s unit sales in cameras are slightly down because of supply shortages, lens sales filled the breach: ‘Supported by strong sales of interchangeable lenses, we posted double–digit growth in both sales and profit, and our operating profit ratio increased to 16.1 percent.’
While supply constraints continue, Canon is positive about the near and mid-term: ‘In the second quarter, while the shortage of product supply caused camera body unit sales to continue to be below those of last year, we expect to turn to increase as production recovers from the second half of the year.
Asked what the outlook was for the camera market, Canon said; ‘even if production around the world recovers smoothly, it will probably take around a year for the inflation caused by the shortage of goods, which arose from supply-chain disruptions etc, to subside naturally.’
Nikon operates on an April-March financial year and has recently reported on its first quarter April-June 2022 results.
Revenue and operating profit of its Imaging Products Business was 61.2B yen and 13.6B yen, respectively, for April to June compared to the same period last year, and increase of 22 percent and 48 percent respectively.
Nikon attributed the positive result to a weaker yen and the shift to (higher margin) mid-to-high-end camera models for pro and hobbyist photographers.It expects these gains to increase as the year goes on, with annual revenue and operating profits forecasts for cameras and lenses revised up to be 21 percent and 42 percent up on last year’s results.
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