[PConline Comments] The digital camera industry is not as big as it used to be. From a sales point of view, it's difficult to reverse the trend of declining each year. In particular, consumer-grade products are more hopeless and more and more. People use mobile phones to take pictures instead of cameras, which has caused a devastating blow to the consumer camera market. Cameras are increasingly being developed at a higher level. Today's camera industry is already a niche industry where a small number of photographers are concerned. In the past, many camera manufacturers have also reached a new wave of big waves. We may wish to rank from 2016 sales and photography competitions. The photographer uses the machine to see which brand in the future will stand out from the dilemma first. Camera brand sales to see the future: Canon or boss it was brushed? There are two giants in the digital camera industry. Canon and Nikon have become the benchmarks in the industry. They occupy the first and second positions for a long time. In the evolution from film to digital, they are the giants that can change from generation to generation. It is also the two most popular camera brands recognized by the market. In the past, using the SLR camera to set the world, in the digital era, the market share after the popularity of the camera is still not easy. From the optical era, there are Fuji, Olympus, Pentax, Ricoh, Kodak and other manufacturers. In addition to these veteran camera manufacturers, Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung have entered the camera market with the advantage of electronic technology. In the process of the ups and downs of the camera industry, many brands have become history, fixed in a certain period of the video industry: Konica Minolta, Kodak, Samsung. Nowadays, the days of the imaging industry have not been good enough. What is the status of the struggle between vendors? The overall trend of the camera industry in 2016: scale continues to shrink, sales down 2016 is not an easy year for every manufacturer of video. There are so many things that happen. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have caused problems in the camera industry, making the overall sales volume in 2016 further low. CIPA (Japan International Camera Imaging Equipment Industry Association), whose members include Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Pentax, Ricoh, Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Sanyo, Casio and other famous Japanese camera and lens manufacturers, have in the industry The very important position.) According to the 2016 digital camera production and shipment data released, the production and shipment of cameras and lenses have been declining for three years from 2014. In 2016, the total output of digital cameras was 23.8535 million units, which is not the same as the annual output of cameras in the past. It is impossible to compare with the current mobile phone output (2016 mobile phone sales exceeded 1.5 billion). In the digital era, Canon and Nikon continue to occupy a large market share. After Sony’s acquisition of Konica Minolta, Sony Ericsson and Canon and Nikon formed a three-legged situation in the SLR era. However, Sony’s market share cannot surpass the market. The development of the SLR camera, and thus switch to a single electric camera, the level opponents are still Canon, Nikon's SLR camera. Fuji, which has always had a stable market, has steadily increased its market share after launching the X series of high-end cameras. Panasonic and Olympus pioneered the single-electricity era, opening up new markets of their own. Pentax insisted on SLR R&D, but it was still repeatedly changed hands. Kodak invented the digital camera but did not see the end. Today's Kodak is no longer Kodak. Samsung, with its advantages in electronic technology, has entered this long-established industry. It has experienced the heyday of digital cameras and has now withdrawn from the camera market. Brand sales rankings: different from what the public thinks! With the overall scale shrinking, what has happened to the market share of camera manufacturers? BNR Orking (established in 1981, a private survey organization that specifically investigates the trends in the digital home appliance market, mainly implementing market research in the IT industry department, etc.) announced the sales of 2016 photographic equipment in the Japanese market at the beginning of the year. The data comes from the Japanese market about 2/ 3 dealers, then selected the sales champion brand that year. The data shows that Canon won at a large rate and occupied the top three among different types of camera products. 2016 SLR camera market share in Japan: Canon is the only one! First place: Canon (63.3%) Second place: Nikon (31.6%) Third place: Ricoh (4.8%) SLR cameras became the first with a 63.3% share, winning in long-term Canon and Nikolai battles. Because only Canon, Nikon, and Ricoh's Pentax remain in the consumer SLR camera field, the top three rankings are ranked in turn. Pentax’s share of 4.8% was for Canon and Nikon. There is no suspense in this ranking, and the gap between Canon and Nikon is also widening. 2016 single-camera Japanese market share rankings: Can Sony sell Canon? First place: Olympus (26.8%) Second place: Canon (18.5%) Third place: Sony (17.9%) In the field of single-cameras, the two giants Canon and Nikon started late and are not the focus of their business. The number of products is not an order of magnitude compared to Fujifilm, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic and can be counted with fingers. come. However, the single-digit sales ranking in 2016 was surprising. The M43 system represented by Olympus has the largest number of products because of its earliest start. Although people think that the 4/3 format is not comparable to the full frame of the explosion point, the small size is among the consumer groups. It is very popular, and the single-digit sales rankings over the years are not the first nor the second. In 2016, Olympus shook its opponents with a 26.8% share. Canon EOS M series has launched a total of 6 products, ranked second in sales last year, under the hot brand Sony More surprisingly, Canon surpassed Sony in second place. The number of single-electric cameras launched by Canon in these years was not large, and there were only two levels of product lines. However, in 2016, Sony had the second highest sales volume with a 18.5% share. Sony is a popular brand in the single-camera market, but sales have not met the market popularity. They have not been able to defeat the M43 system for the first time in the past year, and in 2016 they were also taken away by the Canon single-camera camera with low market share. The second row. There are also many reasons for Sony itself. Sony A7 series full-frame micro-camera, but selling Canon Sony competed with Canon and Nikon in the field of SLR cameras in the early years. The former relied on the SLR technology left by Konica Minolta and the cooperation with ZEISS. However, in the case of many brand-name blessings, it was still unable to mature with a mature market and a large user base. The Canon and Nikon struggled with a little bit of thunder and rain, and the tepidness of the single-electric camera rose several years later. Sony also formally withdrew from the SLR market and focused on single-electric products. The most eye-catching is the introduction of a full-frame micro-camera. A7 full frame micro-camera This product line is still Sony's main push model. However, in the main attack on the A7 series, Sony has neglected another main product. One of the reasons for Sony's sales to be super-charged is the stoppage of NEX-5's micro-slot pioneering series. Sony A5100 this product line from the beginning of the NEX-5 product is the market's main force, in the 4,000 yuan level of single-electric products have a good reputation, in the past two years it was hidden by Sony. Replaced with the more professional A6000. The price is also rising. To know that in the single-camera market, the biggest cake is still the low-end consumer market. Sony focused on developing the A7 series while losing the most influential market. This is contrary to Canon’s current low-end strategy. It is also the reason why Canon’s single-camera camera started late and its market share has grown rapidly. In addition, according to Sony's own positioning, A7 series competitors are Canon, Nikon high-end SLR cameras. The result of this dislocation competition is also not satisfactory. Fixed-lens camera market share in Japan in 2016: Canon, Nikon still dominate! First place: Canon (27.3%) Second place: Nikon (22.1%) Third place: Casio (19.3%) Fixed-lens cameras are Canon, Nikon, and Casio from high to low. This type of product that should have been flourishing, the sales champion is the two giants. This is related to the vendor's marketing strategy. The article also said at the beginning, after the mobile phone camera function squeezed the consumer camera market, many manufacturers have begun to give up the research and development of products below 3,000 yuan. We take a closer look at the current product line of each company and we can see that the Canon and Nikon products are very polarized. They mainly focus on mid- to high-end SLR cameras and eat the most profitable market, but they will also introduce more than 1,000 yuan or even several hundred dollars each year. Low-end card cameras naturally occupy this market with few other camera manufacturers. Casio is because the original market is a fixed lens, self-portrait artifact TR series is no competitor star products, it is not surprising to list. Fixed-lens cameras are also moving toward high-end professionalism In contrast, other manufacturers, fixed-lens cameras are also taking the professional route, the price starts from 3,000 yuan, Canon, Nikon, Fujitsu, Sony, Panasonic, Ricoh has such products. The promotion of such products has encountered a very real problem, 3,000 yuan to start the choice of product types in addition to fixed-lens cameras, as well as SLR and single-electricity cameras, is naturally to dilute market share. Sony Ericsson's star in the card camera is getting harder and harder Fixed-camera cameras are difficult to follow professional routes. Sony Black Card is an example. Sony RX100 series black card cameras are highly recognized among professional card cameras. The images that have not changed for many years are well recognized. At first it became a star product in the card camera. However, Sony Black Cards gradually became free from the two years. See you soon. This is also the decision of Sony's market decision for the black card series. Now the black card series has launched the fifth generation of products. Let's take a look at its price. The price has reached 7,000 yuan, which is a price to buy a mid-range APS-C format SLR camera or an entry-level full-frame camera. It is conceivable to persuade consumers to buy a 1-inch sensor card camera. . From the first generation of more than 3,000 yuan to the fifth generation of more than 7000 yuan, Sony has injected more and more professional configuration for the RX100, but the sensor size determines the ceiling of the picture, which makes the potential users more and more rare. It also enables Canon to become a sales champion in this field. Hesai Prize Winner Sees Professional Camera Brand Share: Fuji Accidents but No Winners with Sony Nowadays, the biggest development trend of the camera industry is specialization. The above three types of products are actually following the specialization route. For consumers, the greatest feeling is that the camera is more and more expensive. This price increase will lead to more people. Use your phone instead of the camera. The camera will only be purchased by the photographer one day. So how are these different brands of cameras used by the photographer crowd? The 60th World Press Photo (Jesus Prize), which had just ended, was photographed by the Spanish website photolari and used by the Joseph Prize-winning photographers. Canon can be seen as still the hottest equipment brand on the list. The equipment on the list is 2/3/4 generation of 5D series, two generations of 1DX series products, and even 6D and 700D are also created by photographers. select. All-in-one is a Canon SLR camera. The number of Nikon camera photographers used ranked second behind Canon, and there was also a winning entry for the use of the medium format SLR camera Pentax 645Z. Judging from the equipment statistics of the winning entries, there are two more unexpected accidents. The Fuji X-T1 won this year in the Dutch game; there are no Sony devices in the winning entries. The Fuji X-T1 is the only single-electric camera used by the current Dutch-born award-winning photographer Fujifilm launched SLR cameras in the early years. At that time, it was a collaboration with Nikon. Both the camera body and the lens used came from Nikon. Fujifilm provided only core technologies. For a long period of time, Fujitsu only launched consumer-grade products. The development of the X series of high-end cameras is also a matter of recent years. In the past, there were few Fujifilm photographers. This year, Fuji photographers were able to make some gains in the competition. It is also a welcome event for Fujifilm. This means that in the field of professional photography, Fuji began to infiltrate. At the same time Fuji X-T1 is also the only one single camera in the statistics. Sony expects full-scale micro-single series to impact professional photography, and the audience will not buy it. Sony was another unexpected player in this statistic. Over the years, Sony has devoted itself to the development of the A7 series of full-frame micro-cameras in order to compete with Canon and Nikon for the high-end professional camera market. A7’s main competitors are full-frame SLR cameras such as the Canon 5D series and the Nikon D8xx series. However, in the International Photo Contest, Sony's products that are so good are still unable to compete with Canon and Nikon. On the one hand, news photographers prefer the optical viewfinder and stability of the SLR camera. The SLR's durable, highly efficient operation and the lightweight single-camera are very different; on the other hand, the Sony A7 is The use of full-frame sensors cancels the mirror structure, but the lens size of the full-frame image field is still huge, and there is no difference between the SLR camera lens and the Sony A7's original portability advantage. With a small number of lenses, there is no flexibility in the selection of Canon and Nikon lens groups. In general, photographers choose to use the camera or prefer SLR cameras. The Fuji X-T1 can be used as a winning cameraman for Hessian. It is a breakthrough for single-cameras. The APS-C format Fuji X-T1 body and lens can be smaller than the full-frame size and may be a photographer's choice. One of the reasons. Analysis of the brand's future trend Canon/Nikon continue to grow The camera market is shrinking, and each manufacturer is considering how to make the products finer. Canon has a unique trend that is even greater than ever. Canon’s slogan this year was: Non-camera users were converted to camera users, non-Canon users were converted to Canon users. ! It can be seen that Canon’s market share in the future camera market is ambitious. Compared with Nikon, Canon has a non-imaging product line business and will be more flexible in the use of funds, and it is also easy to achieve multi-line development. Nikon announced at the CP+ show this year that it would like to adjust its development focus. The future specialized products will be the starting point for Nikon. This century-old optical company has a variety of problems to be solved along with the shrinking scale of the imaging industry. There is no doubt that Canon and Nikon are still two pillars in the professional field. Only the proportion of the market share of Canon and Nikon will be adjusted in the future. The broader Canon market share will be separated from Nikon. Sony's products are good but sales decline, increasing uncertainty Sony has been conducting various kinds of exploratory research and development since entering the digital camera industry. From the beginning of the SLR camera to the transflective camera to today's micro-camera. It also cooperates with the famous names such as Minolta and Zeiss. Popularity has indeed risen rapidly in just a few short years, becoming an image maker with a relatively high market share in the industry. However, judging from today’s market share, Sony, which is expected to form a three-legged situation with Canon and Nikon, has a declining market share. Although Sony’s celebrity products continue, there are many cases of appeasement. Of course, this is also related to its product price positioning. It is related that Sony's cameras are priced moderately in the same class of products. When the pricing is high to a certain extent, it will certainly affect sales. Sony’s high pricing strategy has indeed driven away a large number of original fans. Make it in a more embarrassing situation. In the future, Sony will definitely stick to the professional high-end line, but it is unclear whether the dislocation competition, such as continuing to use single-power rivalry with SLR products, can be harvested as scheduled. From the perspective of professional photographers' equipment selection, SLR cameras are still the mainstream. Sony's full-frame micro-single products are trying to catch up with the same level of SLR cameras. They are not yet portable and still need stability and durability. And lens expansion and other efforts. In the low-end and mid-range camera market, if Sony does not have a corresponding new product to market, it is likely to further reduce sales. Although the impact on profitability will not be high, but it does not care that consumers may reduce the original established brand. Reputation, in the long run, is bad for sales. Fuji is expected to enter the professional field Fuji intends to open professional market through medium format camera Fuji has always been a relatively stable manufacturer. Although the market share of digital cameras is not high, it is still very healthy from the perspective of profitability. The X-series cameras allow Fujitsu to embark on the mid-to-high end line. In the future, Fuji will follow the direction of the big-time professional development. Fuji is also the first consumer company to launch a mid-range single-camera camera. The slight difference from Sony's high pricing strategy is that Fuji's high-priced products are more cost-effective. The medium-format camera GFX 50S is cheaper than the Hasselblad X1D that was released in the same period. The paraxial X-Pro2 is cheaper and more practical than the sideline digital Leica. Relatively speaking, Fuji's high-end products are still relatively high. Among the winners of this season's award-winning photographer are Fujifilm users, and it is also a recognition of Fujifilm by professional users. Other camps have their own ideas After Pentax was acquired by Ricoh, it launched several highlight products, among which the full-frame K-1 has a high degree of attention and is also a SLR camera that has received little attention except for Canon and Nikon. However, Pentax pushes new volume sparsely, which is hard to compete for more market share. In fact, the Pentax 645 medium-format digital SLR product line entered the professional market ahead of other brands, and there will be more room for imagination after the upsurge of medium-format cameras in the future. Panasonic GH series crossover became the star product of video shooting Olympus, Panasonic M43 camp has not yet spread the news of the use of other frame sensors, the future will still be a 4/3 frame position, advanced cameras for the public will continue to launch. In the professional field, Panasonic's video single-power GH5 and Olympus's E-M1 Mark II also have their own specialties. It is believed that Canon or other brands can hardly surpass the single-power sales. What brand of digital camera is good? This is an old topic. The battlefield of the camera industry has shrunk, and the battle between brands has also undergone new changes. The situation is becoming more pronounced when the winner is king, and on the path of specialization, the optical heritage accumulated by established manufacturers and patented technology will be even better. The market share of camera manufacturers will also be shuffled again. Canon will not be the biggest single player in the future? Can Nikon keep its share? Can Sony position it? Will Fujifilm become a new giant? We are waiting for these possible new changes.