# Modest Growth in Camera Sales According to CIPA



## Canon Rumors Guy (May 3, 2017)

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CIPA has released their sales numbers for the first quarter of 2017 and the news is better than we’ve seen over the last couple of years.</p>
<p>The sales if interchangeable lens cameras (Mirrorless & DSLR) saw a 6% increase over the same quarter in 2016. A big boost coming from mirrorless cameras, which according to CIPA, now account for 36% of all ILC’s shipped.</p>
<p>The sales of compact/fixed lens cameras have gone flat, which is good news after 21 straight quarters of decline in the segment. The focus by Canon on its G series prosumer cameras seems to have helped raise the value of compact camera shipments by 7%.</p>
<p>For the moment, the decline in camera sales may have reached the bottom and we may see a little bit of growth in 2017.</p>
<p>You can see all the CIPA data <a href="http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-201703_e.pdf">here</a> and <a href="http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-201703_e.pdf">here</a>.</p>
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## jebrady03 (May 3, 2017)

Although your analysis is spot on, it is missing a few key points which seem to have been consolidated into words ("A big boost coming from mirrorless cameras") when fleshing out the numbers could be informative.

All numbers are Jan-Mar, so only 1/4 of the year.

Looking at production...
Worldwide Production of Mirrorless Cameras - Year Over Year (YOY) is up 44.1%
Worldwide Production of DSLR Cameras - YOY is down 4.7%

Looking at shipments...
Worldwide Shipment of Mirrorless Cameras - YOY is up 45%
Worldwide Shipment of DSLR Cameras - YOY is down 8.3%

Breaking down shipments by region...

Shipment of Mirrorless to Japan - YOY is up 36%
Shipment of DSLR to Japan - YOY is down 9.3%
Shipment of Mirrorless to Europe - YOY is up 44.9%
Shipment of DSLR to Europe - YOY is down 15.8%
Shipment of Mirrorless to Americas - YOY is up 78.1%
Shipment of DSLR to Americas - YOY is down 11.7%
Shipment of Mirrorless to Asia - YOY is up 39.1%
Shipment of DSLR to Asia - YOY is down .9%

Again, worldwide shipments of Mirrorless are up 45%. The ONLY region with shipment growth above the worldwide average is the Americas which has increased 78.1%. Diving into those numbers further...

Total interchangeable lens camera shipments to the Americas = 535,114
Total DSLR shipments to the Americas = 409,823 which means DSLR represent 76.6% of the market
Total mirrorless shipments to the Americas = 125,291 which means mirrorless represent 23.4% of the market.

Worldwide, as cited by CR, mirrorless accounts for 36.4% of all shipments however in the US, it's only 23.4% of the market. But again (as I've illustrated above), the MOST growth, YOY, is coming from the Americas which means that, compared with last year, the growth in the "Americas" market for mirrorless is driving mirrorless adoption worldwide - at least compared to the average adoption rate across the planet.

*note - shipments to "other areas" show a larger percent increase YOY for both DSLR and mirrorless, but the volume is so low that it only represents 2% of the entire ILC market.

Interesting numbers!

A prior manager of mine used to say (in regards to looking at performance) that looking at a single piece of data for a short period of time is like looking at a photograph - it's a moment. However, when you look at lots of sequential bits of data and they all point to the same trend, it's like watching a movie. In this case, we're looking at YOY data, which is definitely movie-like. Not only that, the data confirms what's been seen for years now. DSLR production and shipment are still declining while mirrorless is still climbing.

*disclaimer - this is just MY analysis of the numbers. It's not an indictment or condemnation of either camera line. Keep the hysterics to a minimum, please.


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## Valvebounce (May 3, 2017)

Hi Folks. 
I'd like to be the first (in this thread) to say that Canon is ******* because they don't make the camera _*I*_ want! :
*I have no idea* what I want but I will know when they make it and show it to me! ??? ??? : ;D ;D

Cheers, Graham.


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## Mikehit (May 3, 2017)

jebrady03 said:


> Although your analysis is spot on, it is missing a few key points which seem to have been consolidated into words ("A big boost coming from mirrorless cameras") when fleshing out the numbers could be informative.
> 
> All numbers are Jan-Mar, so only 1/4 of the year.
> 
> ...



So on those numbers, DSLRs are down 8 %points of the Americas market, mirrorless up 8 %points of the Americas market.
DSLRs are down about 7 %points of the global market, mirrorless up 12 %points of the global market. So it seems that the increase in market is because people are buying into both rather than mirrorless stealing the market. A tad confusing


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## romanr74 (May 3, 2017)

Doesn't the data suggest that, in units, yoy:
- Canon (+6%) grew with the market (+6%) in ILCs (i.e. stable market share)
- Canon (-6%) lost share in a flat market (+/-0%) in compacts/fixed lens


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## Wizardly (May 3, 2017)

Anyone know what percent of a full years sales Q1 represents?


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## Woody (May 3, 2017)

Wizardly said:


> Anyone know what percent of a full years sales Q1 represents?



Q1 of 2016 represents about 22% of full year sales.
Q1 of 2015 represents about 20% of full year sales.

So, slightly less than a quarter.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 3, 2017)

Wizardly said:


> Anyone know what percent of a full years sales Q1 represents?



It mostly depends on Canons inventory at the end of the year. If they blow out a lot of inventory in the last quarter of 2017, the percentage will be lower, if they do not have to cut prices, it will be higher. So, no one knows the answer.


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## ashmadux (May 3, 2017)

Great comment, thx for this.

The numbers for Sony's announcement were not exactly what it seemed either. It's people like you that can cut through the fluff. cheers!




jebrady03 said:


> Although your analysis is spot on, it is missing a few key points which seem to have been consolidated into words ("A big boost coming from mirrorless cameras") when fleshing out the numbers could be informative.
> 
> All numbers are Jan-Mar, so only 1/4 of the year.
> 
> ...


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