The latest statistics for the Japanese camera market to 30 June 2024 show a welcome upward trend in production figures and sales values, countering an earlier forecast of market contraction.
The latest production volumes (upper graph) and values (lower graph) for the first six months of 2024 show a small upswing in both, which is largely due to the dominant mirrorless camera sector. (Source: CIPA.)
At the close of the CP+ show in Yokohama in February, the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) forecast a 4% contraction in shipments of cameras and ‘related goods’ this year. However, the latest figures for June, which have just been released, provide welcome signs of growth – although only in mirrorless cameras. Figures released by BCN Ranking, which monitors the Japanese market, put Sony as the market leader in mirrorless cameras with a 33% market share, overtaking Canon to regain the top spot. Canon was second with 25.7%, followed by Nikon with 17.4%. Fujifilm came in fourth with a 10.7% share. This was the first time the company had been in the top four in 24 years.
Sony’s Vlogcam ZV-E10 took the top spot in the mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera series sales ranking for June 2024, followed by the Canon EOS R50 and EOS R10 models. New to the top ten is Fujifilm’s X-T50, which came in sixth, while Sony’s α7C II is the only full-frame camera to make it into the top ten, sitting in seventh place.
Readers should take into account that June is the start of summer in Japan and many people will take vacations at this time. This may also account for the rise in camera sales in April and May, when gift-giving occurs at the end of the education and business years. People are more likely to consider new cameras during this period than earlier in the year.
