The camera sales keep their fall in the age of smartphones.
The smartphone industry continues to overwhelm the camera industry. In just ten years, camera sales have been dropped 84% since 2010. And 2019 hit a record low, even lower than 2018.
The Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has released its figures for 2019, concluding a particularly eventful decade in terms of camera sales.
While 121.5 million devices were sold in 2011, there were only 15 million in 2019, and predictions for 2020 are even more catastrophic. It is expected that only 12 million cameras will be sold this year.
Compact cameras followed a downward trend
This free fall is explained in particular by the virtual disappearance of the compact devices. Previously they were sold the most, 109 million compact cameras were sold in 2011.
And they are literally crushed by the arrival of the smartphones and could not exceed the 7 million models that are sold in 2019.
However, not all sectors are affected by the same way. Even though interchangeable lens cameras are less popular, the drop in their sales rate is much smaller than their compact siblings.
The sales numbers went from 12 million in 2015 to 8 million in 2019. We also note that sales of mirrorless cameras are stagnating, while SLR cameras are experiencing less and less success.
Another significant fact is that the price of the devices increased considerably during the last decade. Logically, it increased when sales plummeted as a way for producers to offset their losses.
The price of a compact camera in 2011 was $80 on average, compared to $180 in 2019.
Smartphones seems unstoppable
Smartphone photography has turned the market upside down, and that doesn’t seem to change anytime soon. Each year, the technology improves considerably. For example, certain members of CIPA like Sony, supplies to the Chinese giants Xiaomi and Huawei.
In addition, the way photography is used today greatly benefits from smartphones. The new gen smartphone cameras makes it possible to modify and edit a snapshot, and post it directly to social networks.
Except for professional use, it is difficult to imagine that cameras can stick their heads out of the water, unless the manufacturers invest huge amounts into new technologies that changes the situation.
