A few days ago the Photoindustrie-Verband e.V. published the 2014 sales figures for a number of products on the German photo and imaging market. As was to be expected by now, the demand for digital compact cameras further decreased in 2014. High-end compact cameras are the only ones among compact cameras that continue to sell well.
Image source: Photoindustrie-Verband e.V.
Image source: Photoindustrie-Verband e.V.
How bad the situation really is only becomes apparent if one compares these graphs with the ones of the, at the moment highly sought after, action cams, the sales figures of which are included in the numbers referred to above.
Image source: Photoindustrie-Verband e.V.
After 13 years of growth, lenses sold worse in 2014 than in the year before for the first time. Quantitatively speaking, this amounted to 300,000 fewer pieces sold, or 15.8%. The decrease in sales, €66m or 11.6%, was slightly smaller.
Image source: Photoindustrie-Verband e.V.
2014 is the second year in a row where the demand for DSLRs has shrunk while, at the same time, the demand for compact system cameras (EVIL, MILC or whatever other names they might have) has grown. While demand for DLSRs only went down a few percent in 2013, this decrease jumped to a whopping 28.7% in 2014. In comparison, the demand for compact system cameras increased in 2013 and 2014 by 15% and 17.4%, respectively.
Image source: Photoindustrie-Verband e.V.
If the current trend continues – which I do not believe – EVILs are going to replace the DSLRs completely on the German photo market at the latest by 2022.
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[…] Compact cameras might come with zoom-lenses, stronger flashes, and, in most cases – thanks to actual buttons – a better/ more intuitive controls, but this does not necessarily tip the scales in their favour. The target group does not seem to consider these advantages to be as important as the “always there” factor and the great potential for snapshots afforded by smart phones. It is therefore not surprising that “Super zoom compacts” and “premium compacts” were the only product categories still selling well on the German photo market in 2014. […]
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