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The Camera and Imaging Products Association of Japan, known as CIPA, published global camera and lens production data through September of this year, and the results show that the industry has been clearly affected by the global coronavirus pandemic.

CIPA published the volume of cameras sold in addition to the shipped value of those units for a number of categories, all of which witnessed a significant decline during the same period in 2019.


Shuttered: Camera Industry Sales Plunge by 54% in 2020, Marking Major Meltdown


Camera manufacturers had sold 1.562 million DSLR cameras through September 2020, down 54%. These cameras were valued at 64.6 billion JPY (~ $ 625,667,150), which was a 51% decrease year-on-year.

And while the mirrorless cameras performed better, they also suffered a significant drop, with 1.807 million units shipped so far. It is a decrease of 34%. These units were valued at 145.82 billion yen (~ 1,412,303,155 USD), down 26% in sales.

Compact camera bodies also sold more than DSLRs, but suffered nearly as badly, with a 51% drop in units sold to 2,498 million. Those sales were worth 53.578 billion yen (~ $ 518.916.324), down 26%.

Lenses also saw declines across the board in units sold and total value. For lenses over 35mm wide. Sales are down 45%. For lenses that are 35 mm or longer. That is, sales decreased by 34%.

You can see the following graph of all global shipments of interchangeable lens digital cameras this year compared to the past two years:


Shuttered: Camera Industry Sales Plunge by 54% in 2020, Marking Major Meltdown


The following graph shows sales shipments in the fixed lens market compared to the past two years:


Shuttered: Camera Industry Sales Plunge by 54% in 2020, Marking Major Meltdown


If there is some upside to this information, it is because sales were much stronger in September than they were in August. The data shows that the overall sales and the sales value are trending upward. DSLR unit sales grew by nearly 68,000 units in September compared to August, and mirrorless camera units grew by nearly 140,000 units during the same period.

It is likely that it will take some time for camera and lens manufacturers to recoup the losses they incurred during the first two-thirds of 2020. And they may reach a reduction in camera and lens prices at the end of this year.



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