Canon, Nikon, Sony Top 2010 U.S. DSC Market Share Rankings

By Greg Tarr On May 2 2011 - 4:01am

FRAMINGHAM, MASS. – Canon and Nikon continued to build on their first and second ranked U.S. market share positions for digital still cameras in 2010 but Sony gained the most ground of any supplier during the year, according to studies released by market research firm IDC Research.

According to Chris Chute, IDC world wide digital imaging practice manager, Canon topped all camera brands with 18.9 percent share of the U.S. digital still camera market on shipments of 6.98 million units. Ironically, the company’s unit volume declined 0.8 percent from 2009, as its market share rose from 18.7 percent.

Nikon again followed in second position with 16.9 percent share of the U.S. market, up from 16.4 percent the year earlier at 6.22 million units. At 1 percent, the company recorded the second highest shipment growth rate in the industry among the top six brands in the year.

Sony, at No. 3, saw shipments grow the most of any camera leader, with a 6.8 percent increase to 6 million units in 2010, reaching 16.3 percent share, up from its 14.9 percent share in 2009.

The company was helped by the introduction of key new cameras including advanced d-SLRs and its first mirrorless interchangeable lens models.

According to IDC, total U.S. camera shipments reached 36.9 million units in 2010, down 2.1 percent from 37.7 million units in 2009.

At the same time, worldwide camera shipments rose 10 percent to 141 million units last year, helped by the introduction of new models and economic growth in emerging markets including China.

The rest of the 2010 U.S. digital still camera market share leaders included No. 4 Kodak with 12.8 percent share (down from 15 percent a year earlier). It’s 4.72 million camera unit shipments, declined 16.5 percent from 2009 volumes of 5.66 million, IDC said.

Samsung came in fifth with 5.7 percent share (down from 6.4 percent in 2009), on 2.1 million units shipped, down 12.9 percent from 2.4 million units in 2009, according to IDC research.

Panasonic ranked No. 6 on shipments of 2.03 million pieces. Its 5.5 percent share of market was virtually unchanged from a year earlier, despite a 1.1 percent decline in unit shipments.

All other brands accounted for a collective 8.81 million units, up 0.9 percent from a year before.

Chute said the top three 2010 market share leaders managed to grow their share of the market by having a strong presence in d-SLR models, which represented a major growth segment during the year, and continues to be in 2011.

According to IDC’s 2010 rankings for global DSLR market share, Canon topped all players with 44.5 percent share, followed by Nikon with 29.8 percent and Sony with 11.9 percent.

In the U.S. last year, “Nikon and Canon also both made promotional deals during the holiday to make sure they didn’t lose out to Kodak or others,” Chute observed.

“Sony did gain ground in the U.S. last year, mostly due to renewed advertising efforts on TV, and compelling CMOSbased products that enabled users to capture HD video and sweep panorama,” Chute added.

The company, he said, had an even stronger brand perception in emerging countries in the year.

Sony, the world’s second-biggest camera maker, controlled 17.9 percent of the global camera market, improving from 16.9 percent a year earlier, researcher IDC said. Nikon had 12.6 percent share compared with Canon’s 19 percent, which remained unchanged from 2009.

Samsung reached 11.1 percent of the market last year, improving from 10.9 percent, according to IDC’s global numbers.

As for the outlook for the U.S. digital camera market in 2011, Chute said the impact from the recent devastating tsunami in Japan is still difficult to read.

“2011 will be a wild-card year for the U.S., as seven out of every 10 households own at least one digital camera, consumer attention turns to smartphones and tablets, and the impact of the tsunami on component sourcing,” said Chute.