Mirrorless and DSLR camera sales have decreased, CIPA says

Mirrorless and DSLR camera shipments have decreased year-over-year, says a report coming from Japan’s Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA).

The Camera & Imaging Products Association has released its report regarding camera sales during the first quarter of 2013, which ended on March 31. CIPA’s latest numbers are worrying, to say the least, for camera makers, as sales have dramatically dropped in both DSLR and mirrorless segments in the last 12 months.

CIPA’s report is at least worrying for DSLR and mirrorless camera makers. Mirrorless sales have dropped by 18.5% year-over-year and 23.2% respectively in the DSLR market.

Mirrorless camera sales have dramatically declined during the past 12 months

According to CIPA, a little over 603,000 mirrorless cameras have been sold during Q1 2013. This is an 18.5% decrease year-over-year and it is the worst quarter recorded by the association in the last five quarters.

The numbers are even worse when comparing them with Q4 2012 volumes, when more than 1,450,000 mirrorless cameras have been shipped. However, it is worth noting that it is natural for Q4 sales to be so high, as consumers are willing to spend more during Black Friday and the holiday season.

Exactly 603,532 mirrorless units have been shipped this past quarter, while in Q1 2012 the numbers have reached 740,846. To put things into perspective, 1,456,054 cameras were sold in the final quarter of 2012. As stated above, this represents an 18.5% YoY decline, while the QoQ reduction stands at an alarming 58.5%.

DSLR camera shipments are decreasing, too

Things are not a lot better when it comes down to DSLR shipments. CIPA says that 2,600,765 cameras have been sold in Q1 2013, 23.2% less than in Q1 2012 when 3,386,386 units were shipped.

The past quarter has been the worst of the last five quarters for DSLRs, too, and this is reflected by a drop of 34.8% when compared to Q4 2012.

CIPA has included numbers from most camera makers, like Olympus, Canon, Sigma, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, and Pentax Ricoh.

Smartphone sales go up, Olympus waves goodbye to point-and-shoot segment

The numbers are not so surprising, as the demand has been affected by the emergence of better image sensors in smartphones.

Even though there is a serious gap between image sensor sizes found in smartphones and dedicated cameras, analysts have found a link between the sale reduction of mirrorless and point-and-shoot cameras and the rise of mobile devices’ shipments.

Olympus is one of the first companies which has announced that it will no longer make entry-level point-and-shooters, as it has decided to focus on mirrorless cameras.

Nevertheless, someone should point out to Olympus that the mirrorless segment is not doing any better.