Nikkei: Canon, Sony made up 70% of the digital camera market in 2020

Japanese financial publication Nikkei has published (soft-paywalled behind a free account) the results of its 2020 ‘Major Product and Service Share Survey,’ wherein it details the market share of the top five digital camera manufacturers and top five sensor manufacturers.

Nikkei’s data shows the digital camera market (measured by units shipped) as a whole dropped roughly 40% in 2020, due to the shrinking market combined with the economic impact of COVID-19. Nikkei reports 8.85 million units shipped, the same quantity the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) reported as well for all of 2020.

Unlike CIPA, however, Nikkei breaks down the market share by brand. Canon took the top spot with 47.9 percent of the digital camera market, with Sony and Nikon taking second and third place with 22.1 percent and 13.7 percent market share, respectively. Fujifilm and Panasonic rounded out the top five with 5.6 percent and 4.4 percent market share, respectively. Of those five, Canon (2.5%), Sony (1.9%) and Fujifilm (.9%) managed to increase their respective market share in 2020 while Nikon (-4.9%) and Panasonic (-.3%) both saw their market share decrease.

Canon’s EOS R5 and R6 full-frame mirrorless camera systems.

Moving onto CMOS image sensor manufacturers, Sony Semiconductor Solutions took the top spot with 48.6 percent market share while Samsung Electronics and Omnivision rounded out second and third place with 20.1 percent and 12.4 percent market share, respectively. SK Hynix and On Semiconductor snagged fourth and fifth place with 4.0 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.

Sony’s a9 II full-frame mirrorless camera system.

Despite still holding the top spot by a large margin, Sony Semiconductor Solutions saw its market share decrease by 4.9% in 2020. Samsung Electronics (+2.0%), Omnivision (+1.0%) and SK Hynix (+1.6%), on the other hand, grew their market share throughout the economically tumultuous year.

Overall, not much changed in the industry as a whole in 2020, as the top five companies in both the digital camera market and CMOS image sensor market remain unchanged. However, there are notable movers in both the right and wrong directions as Nikon continues to see the gap grow to Sony and Canon, who together make up exactly 70% of the digital camera market.

Nikon’s Z6 II full-frame mirrorless camera system.

‘CaNikon’ might’ve been the tongue-in-cheek name we’ve given the historically dominant camera manufacturers (Canon and Nikon), the reality is the market has quickly become dominated by Canony…or Sonon…or whatever amalgamation you prefer for the Japanese manufacturers.