CIPA data 2016: Another horror year for digital camera production

[Skiff]

Today the production / shipping data for digital camera sales of whole 2016 have been published by CIPA.
Here we go:
http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-2016_e.pdf

The data is much worse to even what the biggest pessimists have expected: The market has lost another 32,3% of production volume in only one year (!!).
Production was only 23,85 million units.

To have a broader view of what has happened and is continuing to happen:
So meanwhile the production of digital cameras is much much lower than the production of film cameras in the 60ies, 70ies, 80ies, 90ies and the beginning 00ies.
And that despite the fact that today 2 - 2,5 billion more people are living on earth compared to 30-40 years ago, and much more countries are now high(er) income countries and the (potential) photo market is significantly bigger now compared to these past periods.

As the reasons for this market crash will remain for some further years, we will probably have the situation in the coming years that the market will be too small for all the current manufacturers.
And probably some more companies will have to follow Samsung stopping production and exit the market.

And: Please don't shoot the messenger.......😉
The situation is how it is and I am not responsible for that 😉.

(By the way: Fujifilm seems to have another sales record for their Instax film cameras with about 6,5 million units due to Fuji USA statement).

 

[css9450]

One word:

Smartphones.

 

[Huss]

Ahh all those making fun of Leica and their super high prices. They got it figured out from day 1. Cater to the high end, all that is going to be left in a few years are smartphones and high end photographic gear.

 

[Mackinaw]

Ahh all those making fun of Leica and their super high prices. They got it figured out from day 1. Cater to the high end, all that is going to be left in a few years are smartphones and high end photographic gear.

I believe you are right.

Jim B.

 

[user237428934]

Ahh all those making fun of Leica and their super high prices. They got it figured out from day 1. Cater to the high end, all that is going to be left in a few years are smartphones and high end photographic gear.

Look at the new Canon 5D IV. The III was at almost 3000 EUR when it came out. The IV is just over 4000 EUR and people buy it like crazy.

 

[Huss]

Look at the new Canon 5D IV. The III was at almost 3000 EUR when it came out. The IV is just over 4000 EUR and people buy it like crazy.

Exactly, high end gear.

 

[JonB]

Let's see: for non-reflex (mirrorless and rangefinder) cameras from January through March, 2016 -- that is, prior to the Kumamoto earthquakes -- production (shipments) were up 19.3% (13.9%) year-over-year in volume terms and were up 39.2% (44.0%) year-over-year in value terms (Yen).

I'm not saying it is all rosy, but summary stats rarely convey an accurate understanding of a situation.

Cheers,
Jon

 

[Robert Lai]

I don't understand the table that was linked. What are the units - number of cameras, or the total value in Yen?
Also, they report ''Year over Year growth" as +67.7%, not -32.3%.

So, if I take this table at face value, the digital camera industry is growing tremendously.

 

[gb hill]

Look how much they cost. People have figured they can get a good photo with their smartphone. Photo sharing apps like Instagram & Facebook are much more convenient to use than lugging a camera that cost several grand & for most have to be downloaded into a computer to share photos.

Film cameras are cheap on the used market & people want to jump into film & this is why film is coming back. Epson is kicking butt with nice film scanners. DSLR's are now a dinosaur unless you shoot weddings.😀

 

[JonB]

Here's a link to the report archive: http://www.cipa.jp/stats/dc_e.html

With cell pairs, the top value is units and the bottom value is 1000s of Yen. And, yes, it isn't accurate to call it "growth" -- as you can see when comparing the 2016 report with the same one from 2015 -- but sometimes I'm just happy that it isn't listed as "glowth".

Cheers,
Jon

 

[mhoskin]

I had a similar confusion. But the press release is easier to read:

http://www.cipa.jp/documents/e/PRESSRELEASE20170201_e.pdf

I don't understand the table that was linked. What are the units - number of cameras, or the total value in Yen?
Also, they report ''Year over Year growth" as +67.7%, not -32.3%.

So, if I take this table at face value, the digital camera industry is growing tremendously.

 

[xayraa33]

Digital cameras are kind of boring by their very nature.

 

[jsrockit]

Yet they keep making more and more models...

 

[BLKRCAT]

One word:

FILM

Fixed 😀

10char

 

[Huss]

It's obvious that consumers are eagerly awaiting the re-release of Ektachrome and so have stopped buying digital cameras.

 

[css9450]

Fixed 😀

10char

I wish that were true.... Particularly since I loathe smartphones.

 

[daveleo]

We listen to this every January. "DIGITAL IS DEAD" ...yeh, right.

 

[jarski]

I trust Chinese. first maker entered the mirrorless market last year, and Holga manufacturing was stopped ( 😀 )

 

[mich rassena]

We listen to this every January. "DIGITAL IS DEAD" ...yeh, right.

And film is making a comeback...these headlines are just there to grab eyeballs.

The last few generations of smartphones give the average person better photographs than they ever got with the amateur junk that the camera makers dumped on the market to sell film like the Instamatics and discs and 110s. Even better, rather than mediate the photos through their laptop or desktop, because who can afford Photoshop or Lightroom, they just use whatever filters or basic editing functions are built into the phone or app and post it on the Internet.

It's pretty amazing, that although people are ultimately still paying hundreds of dollars for a camera, the device the camera is attached to does so much more than we could have dreamed of. Combined with the fact that a phone, or even a smartphone is something that people don't think they could live (or live well) without, it's no surprise that the bottom of the digital camera market basically fell off. What $150 point and shoot or bridge camera can compete with the latest iPhone?

 

[MikeMGB]

And film is making a comeback...these headlines are just there to grab eyeballs.

The last few generations of smartphones give the average person better photographs than they ever got with the amateur junk that the camera makers dumped on the market to sell film like the Instamatics and discs and 110s. Even better, rather than mediate the photos through their laptop or desktop, because who can afford Photoshop or Lightroom, they just use whatever filters or basic editing functions are built into the phone or app and post it on the Internet.

It's pretty amazing, that although people are ultimately still paying hundreds of dollars for a camera, the device the camera is attached to does so much more than we could have dreamed of. Combined with the fact that a phone, or even a smartphone is something that people don't think they could live (or live well) without, it's no surprise that the bottom of the digital camera market basically fell off. What $150 point and shoot or bridge camera can compete with the latest iPhone?

On screen a photograph taken with my iPhone 7 plus looks better than an OOC jpg from my Leica D-Lux 109, punchier colours and more contrast. It's only when you start looking at details you see where the Leica is superior.

Most consumers don't care about details, they want punchy colour and contrast, the iPhone 7 is the perfect camera for them.