Let’s find the positive in camera sales

It’s time for the annual CIPA report, which numerous tech blogs and analysts comb over to deduce the trends ailing the camera market. The news can be sobering, especially when leaders like Canon predict a 50-percent drop-off in camera sales within the next two years. On the bright side, the boom in the instant camera category shows there’s life in the category, but it’s going to take a different shape than what we are used to.

Clearly, the impact of the smartphone on first compact digital cameras and now interchangeable lens cameras is being felt. In 2008, CIPA members shipped almost 120 million digital cameras. It was still the golden age: Smartphone cameras were no match in terms of image quality and photo apps such as Instagram or Snapchat hadn’t been invented yet. Further, action cameras like GoPro and drones like DJI hadn’t captured the fancy of hardware enthusiasts.

A decade later, however, the situation has changed considerably. As this chart from Statista indicates, “global camera shipments by CITA members dropped by more than 80 percent since peaking in 2010. Last year, the world’s largest camera makers shipped 19.4 million units, the lowest number of digital cameras since 2001 and the lowest number of cameras per se since 1984.”

The fine people at Lensvid have been tracking this trend for some time, and have…