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Japan’s camera industry is undergoing a revamp as Panasonic Holdings and Nikon have suspended the development of entry-level point-and-shoot cameras under their flagship brands. In the future, the companies will instead concentrate their efforts on more expensive mirrorless models to navigate a market upended by smartphones.
Nikon suspended the development of new compact models in its Coolpix line, as per Nikkei Asia. Nikon reported a 23.9 per cent drop in year-on-year sales for the fiscal year ending March 2021, with 450 bn yen ($3.29 bn) in annual revenue. The operating loss was 65 bn yen, while the previous year’s operating profit was 6.7 bn yen.
Panasonic will continue to manufacture current products. However, its future focus will be on developing high-end mirrorless cameras. The Japanese company intends to release a mirrorless model developed in collaboration with Germany’s Leica Camera AG with whom it formed a partnership in May 2022.
“With the arrival of an era in which photos and videos are shared globally in real-time, cameras are required to have the capability to create more impressive and breath-taking expression. I have always been impressed by the high picture quality and the picture-making philosophy that Leica has developed over its long history,” expressed Akira Toyoshima, CEO of Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co. Ltd. in a press release.
Japan camera market disruption
Global shipments of compact digital cameras fell 97% from 2008 to 3.01 million units in 2021 and accounted for 36% of global digital camera shipments, according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) report. According to a BCN survey, Canon held a 36.8% share of the Japanese digital camera market in 2020 followed by Sony Corp. and Nikon at 19.5% and 12.6%, respectively.
Fujifilm has discontinued production of its FinePix compact cameras and is instead focusing on the X100V series and other more expensive models. Since 2019, Sony Group has not released any new compact models under the Cyber-shot brand. Casio Computer stopped Exilim camera production in 2018. Canon, the second largest player in the market has not released any new Ixy/Ixus cameras since 2017.
Japan camera manufacturers had long competed by increasing the number of pixels and shrinking the size of their devices. But then smartphones came along with apps for photo editing and the ability to easily share photos with family and friends. This altered the way people took photographs.
“The performance of cameras mounted (on smartphones) has dramatically improved, eliminating the need for consumers to bother to always bring a camera with them,” Ichiro Michikoshi, a chief executive analyst at research firm BCN Inc told Japanese media publisher The Asahi Shimbun.
Japan camera industry and mirrorless devices
Mirrorless cameras use image sensors to convert light into electrical signals and have a different viewing system. Like SLRs, they can accept interchangeable lenses that provide significantly more range than the fixed focal lengths found in most smartphone cameras. Mirrorless camera shipments surpassed SLR shipments for the first time in 2020, with 2.93 million and 2.37 million units shipped respectively, according to Japan’s CIPA.
Mirrorless cameras have also been reduced in price to less than 100,000 yen ($730) making them less expensive than comparable SLRs. On top of that, they are extremely powerful providing facial and pupil recognition using AI. With improved viewfinders and less lag, faster image processing aids photographers in high-speed situations.
The mirrorless segment is a bright spot with global shipments increasing 31% year on year to 324.5 bn yen in 2021. Mirrorless single-lens models have high-profit margins and users who replace lenses and other components will continue to contribute to the manufacturers’ bottom lines.
– reporting by Sakshi Dahiya, editing by Sumeet Gaikwad
