Tokyo, Japanâ€" Claiming the lead in market share of worldwide digital camera shipments in 2006, Canon Inc. shipped 19.7 million units last year, comprising 18.7 percent of the market, according to IDC, a provider of market intelligence and research for the consumer technology markets.
While Canon’s shipments grew 23.3 percent from the previous year, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics also flexed its marketing muscle, leaping to the fifth spot from its ninth position in 2005, IDC reported.
Overall, 2006 digicam shipments increased 14.5 percent from 2005 to 106 million units. IDC attributed the growth to a surge in consumer digital SLR popularity, as well as increased demand in emerging markets. Digital single-lens reflex camera shipments soared 39 percent to 5 million units in 2006.
Sony Corp. captured the No. 2 spot in the overall digicam market with its 15.8 percent shareâ€"an increase from its 2005 figure of 15.2 percent. The consumer electronics company announced its launch into the DSLR arena in June 2006 with the introduction of its (alpha) A100 DSLR.
And the only U.S. company among the top five digital camera makers, Eastman Kodak, took the No. 3 position with a 10 percent share, which dropped from the 14.2 percent Kodak registered in 2005. Olympus Corp., in the fourth spot, also reduced its share, to 8.6 percent from 9.8 percent in 2005. “The big winner in 2006 was Samsung, who displaced Nikon and became the fifth largest seller of digital cameras in the world,� Christopher Chute, Research Manager, Worldwide Digital Imaging Group, IDC, was quoted by Reuters.
Samsung took the No. 5 spot by more than doubling its shipments, according to IDC, expanding its share to 7.8 percent in 2006 from 3.8 percent in 2005. Nikon Corp., with its Coolpix lineup and prosumer DSLRs, ranked No. 6 in the overall digital camera market with a 7.6 percent market share in 2006.
In the DSLR arena, Canon also led in 2006, with a dominating 46.7 percent market share. But while its 2006 shipments increased 30.7 percent from a year earlier, its market share was reduced from 49.5 percent in 2005, as it was pressed by competition from pro camera rival Nikon and CE giant Sony, along with Olympus and Pentax.
With a 35.9 percent jump in shipments, Nikon holds the No. 2 post in the DSLR market with a 33 percent market share (down from 33.7 percent in 2005), and Sony, which acquired the DSLR assets of Konica Minolta, accounted for 6.2 percent of the market with 326,240 DSLRs shipped in its first year in this market. Olympus with its Four Thirds system cameras and Pentax filled the No. 4 and 5 spots, respectively, in DSLR shipments.
Global Digital Still Camera Shipments by Vendor
2006 Shipments Share (%) 2005 Shipments Share (%)
1. Canon 19,747,351 (18.7)Â 16,030,746 (17.4)
2. Sony 16,718,209 (15.8) 14,024,195 (15.2)
3. Kodak 10,567,943 (10.0) 13,144,883 (14.2)
4. Olympus 9,117,141 (8.6) 9,089,576 (9.8)
5. Samsung 8,281,648 (7.8) 3,546,367 (3.8)
6. Nikon 8,060,250 (7.6) 7,251,566 (7.9)
Global Digital SLR Camera Shipments by Vendor
2006 Shipments Share (%) 2005 Shipments Share (%)
1. Canon 2,460,339 (46.7) 1,882,162 (49.5)
2. Nikon 1,740,169 (33.0) 1,280,172 (33.7)
3. Sony 326,240 (6.2) 0 (0)
4. Olympus 311,116 (5.9) 217,135 (5.7)
5. Pentax 285,932 (5.4) 175,112 (4.6)
(found via: IDC & Photoreporter.com)