The Nikkei newspaper has published an article about the current state of digital camera shipments based on data from CIPA. Digicameinfo had access to the article behind the paywall and wrote this summary:
- Global shipments of digital cameras, including mirrorless single-lens cameras, are expected to recover to their highest level in nine years in 2024. The driving force behind this is the demand for “instaworthy” photos posted on social media by China’s young Generation Z. Young people who are not satisfied with smartphone cameras are purchasing high-performance products.
- The Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) announced on the 3rd that global shipments of digital cameras in 2012 were 824.7 billion yen, up 15% from 2013. This is the fourth consecutive year of growth, and the highest level since 2015 (885.4 billion yen).
- The increasing sophistication of cameras pushes up product prices. The average price in the global market was about 97,000 yen in 2024, a fourfold increase over the past decade. By demonstrating capabilities not available in smartphones, it appears that the market’s shrinking trend, particularly in the high-end price range, has been halted.
It seems that China’s Generation Z is the driving force behind the recovery of the digital camera market, so we may see an increase in cameras aimed at this generation in the future.