Deliver almost $3 billion in sales.
Global sales of imaging equipment will rise to 1.6 billion units in 2016, largely driven by demand for action cams, drones, head cams and smart glasses, according to GfK’s latest findings that coincide with this year’s photokina in Cologne.
A wide variety of imaging options, younger target groups, and changing requirements regarding image use and image quality ensure that the global imaging market will continue to develop dynamically with an increasing number of new applications.
This year, action cams and camera drones will generate global sales of over 2 billion euros ($A2.97 billion) with their new target groups. Camera drones for the consumer market are recording particularly strong growth, with 10 million being sold in 2016 for the first time. This equates to a global growth in volume of 150% and an increase in sales of 160%.
The global action cam market will also continue to grow in 2016 with sales exceeding 10 million units. The number of units sold and sales will each increase by 25%. This growth is supported by constant product innovations in this segment. Virtual reality is creating an ecosystem of action cams, drones and video glasses, offering new possible links. Although the share of sales held by virtual reality action cams is still in single digits, their share of the market is growing rapidly.
Growth opportunities for high-quality cameras
The developments in the imaging sector continue to pose a challenge to the conventional camera sector, as demonstrated by global market trends in the hardware sector, with digital cameras now accounting for only 36 million units in the global imaging market. This corresponds to a share of 2.3%. Total global sales will fall by 15% to 13.4 billion euros ($A19.8 billion), a trend that is predominantly due to the SLR segment and simple compact cameras. The smartphone is increasingly replacing simple compact cameras as the new entry-level camera.
Sales of high-quality WiFi-enabled travel zoom cameras in a price range between 250 and 500 euros ($A370 to $740) remain stable in comparison to the previous year. They account for 10% of total compact camera sales. There is also a solid trend for compact cameras priced above 500 euros. They already have a 21% share of sales. Compact system cameras costing over 1,000 euros ($A1480) are growing by 42% and now have a 37% share of sales of all mirrorless cameras. Sales of 4k cameras have quadrupled in comparison to the previous year. Their share of sales has thus increased to 11%.
Trade-up for individually lenses
The aftermarket for interchangeable lenses is closely interlinked with developments in the camera market. The rate of 0.5 lenses for every camera body sold in 2013 will rise to 0.64 in 2016. The size of the market now already accounts for half of all sales of interchangeable-lens cameras.
Nevertheless, the global market for individually sold lenses is under just as much pressure as the camera market. However, the decline in lens sales is only 5 %, leading to expectations of a global market volume of 4.2 billion euros ($A6.23 billion) for 2016.
The average sales price of all lenses has continually risen in the last three years to the latest price of 510 euros ($A755). There is also a visible trend for high-quality solutions in this area.