Camera-makers focus on adapting to smartphones’ market surge
Times are hard in Japan, and particularly so for the makers of single lens reflex (SLR) cameras - those one you see professionals touting,especially their digital (DSLR) variant. Combined worldwide sales of DSLRs and their sibling, mirrorless digital cameras are slumping year after year, according to data from Japan's Camera and Imaging Products Association.
Shipments of film cameras essentially died in 2006; DSLRs, which had been rising since 2000, quickly took over, ramping up until they reached a peak in 2008. The financial crisis in 2009 depressed sales badly but, after recovering in 2010 to a high of 120 million, they have gone down to a forecast of just over 30 million this year. Mirrorless cameras, which are more compact than SLR styles, have seen some growth, but they can't make up for the overall indifference of the market to Cipa's members' offerings. Cipa isn't the whole of the world's camera industry, but it represents the vast majority of the high end - and so the money. And those numbers show that the money is pouring out of their business.
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