Sales of digital SLR cameras will continue to grow in 2011 even when other digital cameras have reached saturation point.
According to studies done by IDC, digital camera sales are expected to grow 8 percent this year with 114 million units, but the market will peak in 2010. Analysts say that by 2011 digital camera sales will start to decline by 2 percent, as the market saturates.
But DSLR sales will continue to grow, with projected sales of 8.5 million units in 2011 for a 9 percent increase. The intense rivalry among camera makers is expected to contribute even more to the growth in sales of DSLRs as they continue to offer beefier and better models with lower prices and more people are taking the plunge into SLRs. In 2006, DSLR shipments worldwide jumped by 39 percent.
With compact cameras, however, manufacturers will have to tap into new markets to survive, according to IDC. It said camera makers will have to adapt their marketing and distribution strategies for the markets in China, Russia and diverse countries of Latin America.
They will also have to contend with the arrival of cell phones that can take better pictures.
[Site: IDC.com]