The future of Sony’s camera division is not looking great. The company predicts a massive drop in camera sales soon.
After releasing its financial results for the first quarter of 2018, Sony predicts its camera sales will see a massive drop in the near future. How big of a drop? Sony believes it will sell 1.4 million fewer cameras than it did in 2017. In page 4 of the reports document, the “Supplemental Information” section, it reveals how well Sony is performing in regards to sales. It also gives an indication of Sony’s expectations for the rest of the year.
In 2017, Sony sold 4.4 million cameras. In 2018 it dropped to 3.6 million — which is about an 800,000-unit drop in sales. Now, it seems Sony is bracing itself for another 800,000 drop. This prediction is only for cameras, not information sensors.
This is becoming a trend
This news from Sony echos Canon’s recent predictions. Canon earlier in the year announced its profits from its camera division dropped almost by two-thirds. Canon also predicts that its sales will drop even more in the future. One might think that just because Canon’s sales are dropping doesn’t mean the camera industry is shrinking. But when more mega-companies like Sony start reporting drops in their sales we can’t deny it’s a trend.
One of the major reasons for the drop in camera sales across the board is the rise of the smartphone. While smartphones may not offer the pristine quality that professional cameras do, they still produce images and video of acceptable quality. Plus, almost everyone has a smartphone now. And since their cameras are making huge improvements, non-professionals feel less need to upgrade to a 1,000+ camera when they have a good enough camera in their pockets.
While we can’t predict the future of the camera market, if this trend continues, it is possible for us to see a drop in camera innovation as fewer resources are put into camera development.
