(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| World's Digital Camera Shipments Up 62 Pct. in 1998
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November 30, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Worldwide shipments of digital still cameras
in 1998 are expected to total 3,098,000 units, up 62 percent from 1997,
according to Nikkei Market Access.
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Shipments in the domestic market are estimated at 1,449,000 units, up
44 percent, and those to overseas markets are 1,649,000 units, up 81
percent.
According to the membership information service, the 1998 growth rate
of shipments in the domestic market dropped from the previous year's
147 percent, while the growth rate in overseas markets for the 1998
third quarter surpassed that in the Japanese market.
The growth rate in overseas markets topped that in the domestic market
not only in the third quarter, but also in the first and second quarters.
If the fourth quarter continues to show the same trend, the growth rate
in overseas markets will be higher than that in Japan for the full year
1998. This will be the first time since Nikkei Market Access began conducting
the survey that the growth rate overseas will exceed that in the domestic
market for a full year.
Nikkei Market Access estimates 1999 shipments of digital cameras in the
domestic market at 1.8 million units, up 24 percent from 1998, and shipments
to overseas markets, which includes the United States, Europe and Asia,
at 2.38 million units, up 44 percent.
As for manufacturers' market share, the survey
showed that Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. had the largest share of 22.1
percent in the 1998 first half (January-June), followed by Olympus Optical
Co., Ltd. with 19.8 percent (See chart).
For manufacturers of digital still cameras, one of the requisites for
maintaining the largest market share is that their products must constantly
occupy the top positions in the sales rankings of big retail shops.
In such shops, popular cameras ranked among the top 10 account for more
than 70 percent of shops' total sales in most cases. Moreover, the products'
life cycle is short, around three months. Taking these factors into
consideration, Fuji and Olympus are releasing new, popular products
in rapid succession. This is the primary reason the two manufacturers'
combined share topped 40 percent.
In the United States, 1998 shipments of digital cameras are expected
to reach more than one million units, up 50 percent from last year.
The manufacturer with the largest share in the 1998 first half was Sony
Corp., with 38.0 percent. The globally renowned manufacturer of consumer
electronics has been selling its Digital Mavica in the United States
since the second half of 1997. That digital camera uses floppy disks
for recording media. The camera became a hit product.
In Europe, 1997 digital camera shipments totaled only 230,000 units.
But in 1998, shipments are expected to increase nearly three-fold. Olympus
had the largest market share of 28.0 percent in the 1998 first half.
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Chart: Domestic market share
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Related stories:
� Digital Still Camera Shipments Reach 2.1 Mln in
1997
� Digital Cameras Come in Many Varieties
(Nikkei
Market Access)
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