TOO MANY DIGICAMS?

Monday, August 08, 2005

I see a new digital camera being released every day. Or may be more than one every day.

I read at dpguru that Casio released four digital cameras on a single day. A look at the review summaries at livingroom digital photography blog or camera news shows the frequency at which digital cameras are being released by all the manufacturers. Every one is aggressively eyeing a chunk of the digital camera market that is growing very fast. It is also likely that camera makers don't expect the sales to continue this way for a long time. The reason? Once every one has moved from film to digital(which is not far, considering the way people are acquiring digicams), the initial euphoria ends and the market stabilizes to a less number of newcomers and upgrades.

Never the less, not all camera manufacturers have rosy pictures to post. Olympus and Sony don't have a great story to tell. While Olympus' earnings have fallen by more than 60%, Sony has slashed earnings forecast by as high as 87%. Is digicam market in consolidation mode? I think we will know that in the next 2-3 years to come.

But the trend in consumer cameras has not reflected in the SLR markets. The reasons could be due to a smaller market size, or non-availability of technology and enough accessories(lens) with all the camera makers. However, lack of too many models has been very well compensated by the leap in technology - in areas like sensor size, noise reduction, reducing shutter lag and start up time and many more, that too at a considerably reduced price than a few years ago. May be we can look forward to a price tag similar to a film SLR in next three yeas.

Also read: Jay savage ponders on whether digital camera sales growth has peaked?