IDC on 2007 Sales: Nikon, Sony Gain in dSLRs; Samsung Up, Kodak Holds On in Digicams
By
Mike Pasini, The Imaging Resource
(Monday, April 7, 2008 - 17:47 EDT)
Canon still first in dSLR sales, a market that keeps expanding....
IDC has recently released its latest report on worldwide digital camera sales in 2007 titled 2007 Worldwide Digital Camera Market Share Review (IDC #211642). Below are some highlights:
• Global shipments of digital still cameras including dSLRs reached 131 million units in 2007, driven by strong dSLR shipments and strong growth in the U.S., Eastern Europe, parts of Asia and Latin America. This represents a 24 percent growth rate, stronger than the 15 percent growth experienced in 2006.
• dSLR growth reached 41 percent as shipments climbed to 7.5 million units. Canon was again number 1 with share of 43 percent, yet lost another 4 points on top of the 5 points the firm lost in 2005. Nikon was second with share of 40 percent, gaining 7 points from 2005. Sony again placed third, with a share of 6 percent, unchanged from 2005. Olympus, despite having a broader product lineup, failed to make it out of 4th place with a share of 6 percent, just behind Sony.
• Sony continued to make inroads after bottoming out in 2005 and saw its total digital camera share maintained at 16 percent, on shipments of 20.1 million units. Kodak had a strong showing in 2007, maintaining its third place ranking and despite the onslaught from Samsung, which came in fourth with 10 percent share on shipments of 12.6 million units.
• The big winner for 2007 was Samsung, which was able to move solidly into the top tier of the market, with stunning success in Western Europe, Asia Pacific and parts of ROW, most notably Eastern Europe.
Nikon also deserves special mention here. While the Coolpix compact business suffered setbacks, Nikon's dSLR efforts amounted in a serious challenge to Canon, resting on the back of compelling SKUs like the D40x and D300 and supplanting Canon at the number one position in their domestic market (Japan).
While Canon managed to retain its leading global position, its 2007 growth rates in Western Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific were in the single digit, compared to other top-tier vendors in those respective regions. Part of the issue is an increase in competition from Nikon in the dSLR space, but the larger issue rests on repeat buyers looking for more camera at less of a price in years' past. While Canon aims to maintain a higher ASP in the compact category, we saw this erode in 2007 as some models were reduced by up to $100 from their MAP pricing by the end of the year.
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