The mirror less camera market segment in Southeast Asia expanded by 45 per cent in volume to reach 421,000 units in 2016, corresponding to a growth in value by 51 per cent that reached US$287 million.
On the contrary, the compact point-and-shoot camera segment registered the sharpest decline in both volume and value, by 38 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. The digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) segment took a slight dip of 8 per cent in sales volume while market value remained flat throughout the year.
The market trends point towards a bullish segment for mirrorless cameras within the overall digital still camera (DSC) market across Southeast Asia.
In the Philippines, the overall DSC market contracted by 20 per cent in volume but expanded in value by 33 per cent in 2016, with the mirrorless camera segment increasing in volume and value by a whopping 375 per cent and 440 per cent respectively.
The Philippine DSC market is expected to remain relatively stable due to the increase in the average selling price of cameras sold, echoing the same trend seen across the region.
“Many consumers today, especially the Millennials, are already very much accustomed to using smartphones to stay connected and access their social media platforms instantaneously. With smartphones offering the convenience to upload photos straightaway onto social media platforms, the overall sales of compact digital cameras will continue to be adversely affected,” said Gerard Tan, senior director, Technology Retail Tracking, GfK Asia. “Camera manufacturers therefore need to rethink about their product and value differentiation.”
With the world’s largest retail panel, GfK tracks products and delivers insights based on both retailer and reseller actual sales data, to help customers align product availability with the expected market demand, as well as to optimize product assortment, distribution and pricing strategy.
GfK was a key participating company at CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show 2017.
