Last month, the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) released its 2016 report detailing yearly trends in camera shipments. Using that data, photographer Sven Skafisk has created a graph that makes it easy to visualize the data, namely the major growth in smartphone sales over the past few years and the apparent impact it has had on dedicated camera sales.
The chart shows smartphone sales achieving a big spike around 2010, the same time range in which dedicated camera sales reached its peak. Each following year has represented substantial growth in smartphone sales and significant decreases in dedicated camera sales, particularly in the compact digital cameras category.
Per the CIPA report, total digital camera shipments last year fell by 31.7% over the previous year. The report cites multiple factors affecting digital camera sales overall, with smartphones proving the biggest factor affecting the sales of digital cameras with built-in lenses. The Association’s 2017 outlook includes a forecast that compact digital cameras will see another 16.7-percent year-on-year sales decrease this year.
Skafisk’s graph below shows the massive divide between smartphone sales and camera sales – be prepared to do some scrolling.
Via: PetaPixel, CIPA
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)