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Posts Tagged ‘CIPA’s’

CIPA’s October report shows camera market has mostly recovered from its COVID-19 downturn

03 Dec
Top: Panasonic S1 (left) Canon EOS R (right) Bottom: Sony a7 III (left), Nikon Z6 (right)

It’s been a rather tumultuous year for camera sales atop a market already in decline, but the latest report from Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) shows the market is back in business and nearly recovered from the COVID-19 downturn.

CIPA, an industry association that aggregates shipment and sales information from the leading camera manufacturers, has shared its October numbers, which show the September recovery of shipments wasn’t a fluke. According to the October report, total digital camera sales – which include both fixed-lens cameras and interchangeable lens cameras – saw a total of 1.13 million units shipped. That’s still 22.8% fewer units shipped compared to October 2019, but that’s a far better shipment rate than the past six months, which have seen shipments hover around 50% of what they were in 2019 in the same months.

A line graph showing the month-by-month shipment numbers of digital cameras — including compact, fixed-lens, DSLR and mirrorless — for the past three years. Click to enlarge.

And the numbers look even better for interchangeable lens cameras. CIPA’s report says a total of 754K units were shipped, a decrease of just 13.6% compared to October 2019. Despite shipping fewer units, the monetary value of those shipments is up half a percentage point year-over-year (YoY) as well, showing the cameras being sold are more expensive models.

Interestingly, the increase in value from those shipments can be attributed only to mirrorless cameras. Globally, the monetary value of DSLR sales is down 22% YoY for October, aligned with overall unit shipments, while the monetary value of mirrorless shipments is up 11.9% YoY for October. In other words, the average revenue from global DSLR sales has more or less stayed the same while increasing for mirrorless camera sales. This backs up statements from multiple manufacturers – most notably Canon and Nikon in their investor reports – that higher-end, full-frame mirrorless models are selling better and will be the focus of their product lines.

A line graph showing the month-by-month shipment numbers of interchangeable lens cameras for the past three years. Click to enlarge.

The October report also confirms DSLR camera sales are on a far faster decline than mirrorless cameras, at least in most regions. Global DSLR shipments were at 338K units, down 21% YoY for October, while mirrorless camera shipments were 416K units, down just 6.4% YoY for October.

Where it gets interesting is when you look at shipments by region. The increase in monetary value of mirrorless camera shipments comes almost entirely down to China, which saw a 53.8% increase in value YoY for October. Also, Europe stands as an outlier in the DSLR market; according to CIPA’s report, while DSLR sales are down in volume and value to the United States, they’re only slightly down in volume and up substantially (30.5% YoY for October) in Europe. This could simply be due to the stock being sent to the respective regions (budget DSLRs vs higher-end DSLRs), but it’s an interesting discrepancy nonetheless.

A full breakdown of production and shipments of cameras aggregated by CIPA. Click to enlarge and click here for the PDF version.

The ratio between DSLR and mirrorless shipments to different region varies quite a bit as well. In Europe, DSLR and mirrorless shipments in terms of volume are roughly even, but in terms of value, mirrorless is nearly double. The United States, on the other hand, saw roughly 35K more DSLRs shipped to its shores compared to mirrorless cameras, but mirrorless still has double the value of those DSLRs.

It remains to be seen if volume and value return to their 2019 numbers over the holiday seasons, but things are looking up for an industry that’s seen a devastating decline.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s April report shows digital camera production, shipments are down 56.4%, 63.7%, respectively, YoY

03 Jun
Total shipments of digital cameras (DSCs) worldwide for the month of April 2020 (Orange) compared to 2019 (Black) and 2018 (Blue).

Japan’s Camera & Imaging Products Association — better known as CIPA — has released its latest numbers, showing what camera shipments looked like for the major manufacturers through the end of April 2020. As is to be expected in these turbulent times, the numbers are down across the board.

As a whole, shipments of digital cameras in April 2020 were down to 550,000 units, a decrease of 63.7% year-over-year (YoY) compared to April 2019. Interchangeable lens and built-in-lens camera shipments for April 2020 were at 300,000 units and 252,000 units, respectively, a YoY decrease (compared to April 2019) of 63.7% for both unit types. Further split up, CIPA’s numbers reveal DSLR and mirrorless sales were down 60.8% and 67.0, respectively, YoY for the month of April.

Total shipments of interchangeable lens cameras (both DSLR and mirrorless cameras) worldwide for the month of April 2020 (Orange) compared to 2019 (Black) and 2018 (Blue).

While these decreases are alarming without context, they shouldn’t be surprising considering the current state of the industry (and world as a whole through this COVID-19 pandemic). In addition to slower sales due to COVID-19, the pandemic also all but froze supply chains and production for many camera manufacturers. CIPA’s numbers reveal production for April 2020 was down 56.4% for all digital camera units compared to April 2019.

Nearly every camera manufacturer has made it clear in some form or another that things will get worse before they get better and CIPA’s April numbers further confirm those sentiments. It remains to be seen how much the market recovers as more of the world opens up following the COVID-19 pandemic, but with more countries easing stay-at-home orders and quarantine restrictions, there’s a chance we’ll start to see some semblance of a recovery, even if it takes a few months to show in the numbers.

You can find CIPA’s graph and detailed breakdown on its report page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s latest numbers show camera production, sales slashed by half in March

27 Apr

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the camera industry particularly hard with a dramatic downturn in both production and sales during March. Traditionally a period when sales of new products announced after the New Year begin to come on-line, this March saw production and shipments from Japanese companies drop to only 48% of levels reached in the same month last year.

Figures released by the Japanese Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) show world-wide shipments were only 47.8% of the volume last March, with the number shipped to Asia (excluding Japan and China) only 39.8% of last those shipped in March 2019. Shipments to ‘Other Areas’ (including the Middle East) are most healthy but still down to 68.2% of last year’s volume, and this region accounts for a very small proportion of sales. Shipments to the USA were at 44.7% and those to Europe were 48.3%, while Japan managed 54.5%.

Production and shipped data for March 2020. Column 2 is for comparison to February 2020 and column 3 shows a comparison to March 2019. Column 4 compares Q1 2020 with Q1 2019

It seems SLR cameras have fared far worse than mirrorless models, which may be partly down to the fact that there are fewer new SLR models around at the moment. Production of SLRs reached only 32.6% of the levels for last March, while mirrorless models reached 56%. China was the only region to receive more SLRs than mirrorless cameras, but that figure was still only half of what the country took last March.

The CIPA figures are reflected in the sales reported by Stackline, which showed online camera sales in the USA were down 64% in March. With many camera shops with closed doors too, sales across the counter are also likely to be very poor. The market research company rated cameras no. 3 in its list of the 100 fastest declining product categories – with only briefcases and luggage doing worse. Unsurprisingly, disposable gloves were the fastest-growing product.

Last week Canon reported a drop in camera revenue of 27% for the first quarter of the year – slightly ahead of that across the total Japanese camera market which recorded a drop in revenue of 31.1% compared to the same period last year. The revenue drop for SLRs shipped from Japan was 40.2% while that for mirrorless models was 25.8% in the months January to March 2020.

Sales of lenses have held up a little better with the total volume produced in March dropping by 46.1% and those shipped falling by 44.8%. Production of full-frame lenses dropped by 34.5%, while those designed for smaller formats fell by 53% by volume. In better news, the value of smaller-format lenses shipped to the USA was up by 1.5% over the value shipped to the region in February – and I’ll take that as a positive.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s 2019 numbers detail worst year of the decade for the camera industry

04 Feb

Camera & Imaging Products Association, more commonly referred to as CIPA, has released its December report, which not only provides the details for the final month of the year, but also gives us a complete picture of the camera industry in 2019.

For anyone paying attention, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the news isn’t great. In fact, it’s downright terrible if we’re only looking at the numbers and not contextualizing the industry as a whole as it continues the transition from DSLR to mirrorless cameras. But, even then, it’s not a pretty sight.

According to CIPA’s data, digital still camera sales decreased by approximately 14 percent year-over-year. DSLR unit sales dropped almost 34 percent, while their value dropped roughly 28 percent. Meanwhile, mirrorless unit sales dropped by 10 percent, but the value of mirrorless camera sales increased by almost 6 percent, suggesting more advanced mirrorless cameras are increasing in popularity. Fixed-lens cameras saw a unit sale decline of 23 percent, while value dropped 12 percent.

As a whole, these numbers define what’s easily been the most dramatic year-over-year decline in the past decade; and most camera company’s don’t seem too confident the market will improve much next year if we’re to consider their financial projections as any indication.

However, as noted by CIPA’s mirrorless numbers, it does appear as though mid-to-high-end mirrorless cameras are providing more revenue year-over-year, and with both Canon and Nikon expected to ship more advanced mirrorless models in the coming year, that number will likely only go up, even as DSLR and fixed-lens sales continue to decline.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s February 2019 report shows huge drop in global digital camera shipments

09 Apr

The Japanese Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has published a new graph showing the number of cameras shipped in February 2019 and the figures aren’t reassuring. According to the association, sales were down from January 2019 and had substantially decreased compared with February 2018.

Global digital camera shipments in February 2019 came in at only 935,148 units compared to the 1,001,398 shipped in January 2019. This is a more than 30% decrease year-over-year, with January 2018 having seen 1,340,492 shipments and February 2018 having maintained a consistent rate at 1,340,995.

A decrease was experienced in the interchangeable lens camera market as well, dropping from 798,014 in February 2018 to 521,217 in February 2019. Both the February 2018 and 2019 shipment periods were lower than February 2017, which had 843,217 in global interchangeable lens camera shipments.

A similar, though not quite as dramatic, decrease in global built-in lens digital camera shipments was experienced in February 2019 compared to February 2018 at 413,931 units versus 542,981.

According to the CIPA data, global digital camera shipments remained very similar from January to February 2017 and increased slightly for those same months in 2018. The trend changed in 2019, with overall February shipments dipping a little more than 6% below January’s global shipment numbers.

The numbers are concerning due to the general decrease year-over-year, but also because the shipment numbers decreased during a time in the year when they previously remained relatively steady or began increasing. It’s yet to be seen whether March’s figures represent yet another decrease or if February’s shipment numbers end up being an unfortunate, concerning fluke.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s November numbers show the digital camera market’s continuing decline

11 Jan
Graph: CIPA

The Japanese Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has released its numbers for November 2017, and they don’t make for pleasant reading. In short: the downward trend in the digital camera market continues, with only 2,166,788 DSC units shipped in November 2017, or approximately 17% percent lower than the previous year.

Looking back further is even more depressing: almost an entire million more units were shipped in the same month in 2015.

The situation looks very similar when looking at interchangeable lens cameras separately. With just over one million shipped, the total in November is approximately 20% lower than the same month of the two previous years.

Due to smartphones taking over as the go-to imaging device for casual users, the market for digital cameras with built-in lenses has been plummeting for a while. At 1,163,523 units shipped, this market segment has now, at least in terms of shipments, almost shrunk to the same level as the interchangeable lens bracket.

The year-on-year decrease for November is not as dramatic for DSLRs and system cameras, but compared to two years ago, the number of cameras with built-in lenses that have been shipped has been cut almost in half.

Graph: CIPA

Barring earthquakes and other natural disasters in the camera manufacturing regions, November tends to be one of the stronger month in camera retail, making this report all the more disappointing. Let’s hope the December numbers provide some reason for optimism when they arrive next month.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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