Framingham, Mass — Canon retained its lead as the worldwide shipment leader in digital cameras, according to figures released by the research firm IDC.
The company held 19 percent of the global market, followed by Sony at 16 percent and Kodak at 10 percent. The three companies held the top three positions, in the same order, in 2005 IDC said, but Kodak’s share dropped 20 percent in 2005.
The total market for digital cameras grew 15 percent to 106 million units, helped along by digital SLRs and growth in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. Digital SLRs hit the 5 million unit mark, a jump of 39 percent over 2005.
Samsung doubled its worldwide share from 4 percent to 8 percent to displace Nikon as the fifth largest supplier.
Despite the growth, IDC cautioned that “the digital camera market will continue to slow down even as the camera becomes more of a personal device than a household item.”
