Sales of digital cameras worldwide rose 15 percent in 2006 to 105.7 million units. Total sales were pulled up by sales of the high-priced digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, which grew 39 percent to 5.3 million units. These figures were reported today by the Wall Street Journal quoting market research firm IDC, which did not release dollar figures.
Canon remained in the top slot with an 18.7 percent market share, up from 17.4 percent in 2005. Sony maintained its No. 2 position with 15.8 percent, up from 15.2 percent in 2005.
Kodak fell to a 10 percent market share from 14.2 percent, reflecting its decision to emphasize profitability and reduce sales in the cheapest segment of the market. It remained ahead, though, of No. 4 Olympus which fell to 8.6 percent from 9.8 percent. Samsung Corp. jumped into the top 5 with a 7.8 percent share, up from 3.8 percent.
In the DSLR market segment, Canon gets the lion’s share of 46.7 percent. Nikon is second with 33 percent, followed by Sony with 6.2 percent, just ahead of Olympus which had 5.9 percent.
Prognosis for 2007 is that the digital camera market will likely slow down, with a growing number of households already owning several digital cameras rather than just a single camera.
[Via: Online.WSJ.com]