Global digital camera shipments decreased by 21.7% year-on-year to 15.21 million units in 2019, according to data released on Monday by the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA).
In 2017, the average monthly sales volume was about 2 million units, but in 2018 it dropped to about 1.6 million units, and in 2019 it further decreased to about 1.3 million units.
In 2019, Shipments of digital cameras with a built-in lens (so called compact digital cameras) decreased by 22.0% year on year to 6,755,467 units.
Shipments of interchangeable lens digital cameras (single-lens reflex and mirrorless) also decreased by 21.4% year on year to 8,461,490 units
Within the category, mirrorless cameras performed rather well in contrast to single-lens reflex cameras, whose shipments fell by 32.0%. Shipments of mirrorless products decreased as little as 4.4%, almost the same as in 2018, when the subcategory experienced modest year-on-year growth.
Shipments of interchangeable lenses decreased by 21.0% year on year to 14,236,912 units.
Interchangeable lenses are often regarded as a supporting player for camera bodies, both single-lens reflex or mirrorless. In fact, however, they play another starring role in the camera industry because photographers need a set of high-performance lenses with unique characteristics to take photos with great artistic quality that no smartphone camera can deliver.
For years, many more lenses had been shipped than bodies (interchangeable-lens digital camera). No change was observed in this trend in 2019 as shipments of lens were 70% larger than those of bodies.
At present, Nikon and Canon are planning a new generation of micro-single product lines, which is believed to stimulate the activity of the entire camera market.
CIPA estimates that global digital camera shipments in 2020 may decrease by 23.3% compared to 2019, and eventually fall to 11.67 million units. Of those, shipments to Japan and those to regions outside of Japan are projected to be 1.78 million units (a year-on-year decrease of 23.3%) and 9.89 million units (a year-on-year decline of 23.3%), respectively.
