In Mirrorless, Canon Leaps to No. 2 in Japan

With only a few offerings and a negligible number of lenses, maybe you didn't think much of Canon as a player in the mirrorless game.

But think again—according to Thom Hogan's analysis of BCN data, Canon is coming on like gangbusters in the cameramakers' home market of Japan, capturing 18.5% of the entire mirrorless market in 2016, easily surpassing onetime leader Panasonic and even squeaking past mighty Sony despite Sony's plentiful offerings in a variety of formats.

Note that Thom's chart is only for the Top Three and their combined market share, which is why figures for Panasonic don't appear in 2016 and 2015, and why Fuji, Nikon, Leica etc. don't appear on the chart at all.

Thom also notes that Japanese camera buyers are "price and size sensitive," greatly preferring small cameras and bargain prices.

Canon is now outselling Nikon two to one in Japan
Thom's other article of great interest is the one reflecting on BCN's recently released data on DSLR market share. It shows Nikon slowly slipping in the home market, and Canon going from strong to stronger.

Thom now has many sites covering many aspects of camera gear, but his core or legacy identity is as a Nikon site (the tagline on dslrbodies.com is "Supporting the Nikon F-mount on the Internet since 1994..."), so naturally his article concentrates on the ramifications of the data for Nikon. The article also charts the steady deterioration of Nikon's rank in lens sales, from 23.2% of the interchangeable lens market in 2009 to 12.5% last year.

Sigma has now taken over the No. 2 position in interchangeable lens sales in Japan, behind Canon.

Mike
(Thanks to Michael J. Perini)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Not in the top three either.
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Featured Comments from:

Jim Bullard: "I'm not surprised. The 'M' cameras have taken a bum rap in the U.S. but I like the M3 in particular. I wish it had a fully articulated screen on the back but, on the whole, I love it. Good size, reasonable price, and great optics."

Geoff Wittig: "This is ironically bad news for us Canon users. Nikon's technical prowess over the years has provided the competitive challenge keeping Canon from becoming completely complacent. No doubt it's Nikon's brilliant D800/810 series (and their Sony sensors) that forced Canon to finally start addressing its lag in high ISO noise and dynamic range capabilities. If Nikon slips further and goes under (a distinct possibility, since Nikon is basically a camera/lens company, while Canon and Sony have far wider product lines), Canon may get even fatter and happier with what they already have. This would make me very sad; I greatly prefer the larger form factor of 'standard' DSLRs over mirrorless cameras, which just feel too small and fiddly to me."

Comments

[Andrew Lamb]

Well done, Sigma! Clearly, a lot of people are interested in their lenses but I want to cheer them for their bonkers Foveon sensor cameras.

The SD Quattro is easily a contender for ugliest camera ever built but, with the 30mm f1.4 Art lens, it's capable of gorgeous image quality. Treat it as a medium format camera loaded with 100 iso slide film and you're in for a treat.

[Dave Riedel]

This makes you wonder if Nikon management is following the tenets of the "Kodak Manual for Adoption of New Technology"

[Steve Jacob]

Brand and marketing are the two biggest factors in purchasing decisions, closely followed by price.

In my case, marketing has a negative effect. I almost never buy products from 'the leading brand of...' companies. I don't know why, it's just my own prejudice, but they always seem to have been designed by a committee.

That Canon and Sony dominate mirrorless is no surprise to me, but I simply wouldn't consider buying any of their camera products. Not because there is anything wrong with them, but they just don't move me in any way at all.

Or maybe I've always like the underdog.

[Michael Perini]

I shot film in Nikons for 30 years, (still have 'em) switched to Canon in 07 for the 1DsIII, which I still have along with a 5D Mk IV and some 7D's
I switched because my Nikon Rep kept telling me that FF was not necessary. My Daughter still shoots Nikons,
I completely agree that it would be a very bad thing for Canon shooters if Nikon were to disappear. There are brilliant engineers at Nikon being hamstrung by dreadful management.
I have been thinking that Nikon is one blockbuster camera away from turning it around. The D5, D500 and D810 are superb cameras. They are traditional Pro Nikons, they seem to have lost resonance everywhere else.
They have the history, the 28 & 35 Ti, or can you imagine a Digital S3 or SP? Nikon is still a profitable company, But despite all the past and current greatness, they have lost traction, and the trend is not their friend. I hope they turn it around.
I wish them well.

[Doug Thacker]

Those numbers are fascinating. Canon's DSLR share is more than twice Nikon's. You could put this down to Nikon's conservative approach to design and marketing in its lower to mid-level bodies, which may be true - but then we look at the mirrorless numbers, and see that Canon is winning there, too.

Sony is anything but conservative and stodgy, and yet Canon, in only its second year in the segment, already has a share exceeding Sony's. I'm guessing this is down to price, as the M3 appears to be considerably less expensive than the Sony offerings, and according to Thom the Japanese market is particularly price sensitive.

It seems safe to say that change will be slow in coming to Nikon, but I wonder how Sony will respond?

[Paulo Bizarro]

If Canon ever get serious with MILC, they will wipe the floor... actually, the initial EOS M was robust little camera, and the M5 is a great little camera.

Couple it with the zoom lenses that most folks want, and that Canon already released, there is success waiting.

It's just us photo snobs that think that you can only take great pics with fancy prime lenses:)

[s.wolters]

Not a big surprise. I see many Japanese tourists daily who are carrying an Olympus E-PL or Canon M. Mainly women. So that's half of the population. Mirrorless seems to be a female thing in Japan. This video explains a lot. Cute girl, cute lens, cute technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcVrTahgtt8

[Ben Rosengart]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FVdfDoXHdZc

Tom Waits, "Big in Japan"

[Terry Manning]

I think pros and enthusiasts forget that we are the exceptions to the rules that move the markets. I'm usually impressed with Canon's ability to find low-cost solutions that are acceptable to the masses.

[Arg]

Why do so many photography enthusiasts think that market-watching is so relevant to the hobby? Am I part of a minority in thinking that it has not the slightest relevance to any of the reasons I took up photography as a hobby?

[Well, what were the reasons you took up photography as a hobby? I'm not being snarky in the slightest, I would be curious to hear. --Mike]