The two largest Japanese camera manufacturers have pulled out of the eleven lucrative entry-level point-and-click camera market.
Nikon and Panasonic have both suspended development of cheaper model cameras, instead turning their attentions towards the professional market.
Compact digital cameras were big business in the 2000s, with global shipments peaking at 110 million cameras in 2008. The casual market has long turned to the smartphone; global shipments dropped to just 3.01 million cameras in 2011 – a 97 per cent fall from the peak.
“We’ve halted developing any new models that can be replaced by a smartphone,” a Panasonic spokesperson said. The company has been downgrading its Lumix digital camera since 2019, not selling any models under A$530.
Likewise, Nikon has discontinued lower-end models in its Coolpix range, with just two high-powered lens models available. The company is “closely monitoring market trends” in regards to this line. It has completely withdrawn from development of SLR cameras.
In June, Terushi Shimizu, CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions said that smartphone cameras will make DSLR cameras obsolete by 2024.
”We expect that still images from smartphones will exceed the image quality of single-lens reflex cameras within the next few years,” he said at a business briefing.
“Around 2019, it was said that the three elements of the battery, display, and camera will evolve in smartphones.
“While the other two are technically saturated, there are still expectations for the camera to evolve.”