Framingham, Mass. — The digital camera market grew 14 percent in the third quarter, reaching 6.8 million units shipped, according to research firm IDC.
The firm noted that while the top three brands remained unchanged (Canon, Kodak and Sony, respectively) Samsung leapt from the bottom of the pack to the fifth spot with 11 percent of the market, behind Nikon. Hewlett-Packard was in the sixth place with 6 percent of the market.
Aggressive pricing on its 5-megapixel cameras and good distribution in mass merchant channels and shopping clubs were the main drivers of Samsung’s growth, IDC observed.
The overall growth in the market was propelled by digital SLRs and in lower cost, entry-level point-and-shoot cameras, IDC said.
“It’s a real binary market,” said research manager Chris Chute.
