Camera market to continue to shrink, but is US-China trade war partially to blame?

Camera market to continue to shrink, but is US-China trade war partially to blame?
(Image credit: Newswitch)

We're terribly sorry to bring you doom and gloom on a Monday morning, but it's not looking good for the camera market at the moment. From plummeting compact camera sales to the looming US-China trade war, it seems that the camera market is a pretty inhospitable environment at the moment.

Over the weekend, Japanese website Newswitch published an interview with Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai where he said that the camera market will continue to shrink over the next two years. In this interview, Mitarai stated that (translated by Google Translate) "Single-lens cameras… peaked at 18 million in 2012… the number of units [has] decreased by almost half to 10.3 million units, and this trend will continue for another two years." 

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.