Fujifilm beats Nikon on sales thanks to Instax cameras

Fujifilm has just published the results for the second quarter of the 2022 fiscal year. Thanks to the launch of its new flagship cameras, the X-H2 and X-H2S plus the latest Fujifilm Instax Square Link and Instax Mini Link 2, the company has beaten its fellow Japanese brand, Nikon, on revenue.

Between July 1 and September 30, 2022, Fujifilm recorded an impressive 23.7% year-on-year increase in revenue, and operating income increased by 2.1 times. Fujifilm Instax sales helped generate an impressive 119.1 billion yen which is 5 billion more than the revenue generated by Nikon’s entire Imagine Products Business (¥114.5 billion yen).

The best Fujifilm cameras include the X-series mirrorless range and the ultra-high resolution GFX systems, but as we've mentioned, they also include the best instant cameras from the Instax family.

Fujifilm Rumors shared a graph from the Fujifilm Business summary showing the growth of both of its imaging divisions. One of the reasons for the increase in revenue is down to Fujfilm’s four major camera releases this year. In July 2022 it released its first smartphone printer, the Fujifilm Mini Link 2 which can also print images directly from the Fujifilm X-S10. In the same month, Fujifilm also launched the 24.2MP Fujifilm X-H2S to replace the three-year-old Fujifilm X-H1 but Fujifilm still had another exciting surprise up its sleeve. 

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Enter the Fujifilm X-H2 released in September 2022. Suddenly the X-H2S felt a little like a warm-up release to get you ready for the real deal. Featuring a 40.2 megapixel stacked CMOS sensor, the X-H2 isn’t just Fujifilm’s highest megapixel crop but the highest among all APS-C cameras. It also benefits from 8K 30p video with a claimed recording time of 160 mins, 5 axes of image stabilization and 20fps continuous shooting when using the electronic shutter. 

While you might assume that Fujifilm’s professional imaging department is where most of the money is made, it’s actually Fujifilm's consumer market that is driving the revenue. While Instax brought in 119.1 billion as previously mentioned, professional sales brought in just over half that at 64.3 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%.

It’s not all too surprising Fujifilm's Instax sales have done so well - especially compared to professional camera sales which are a lot more expensive to build and often have smaller profit margins. The Instax range of cameras is popular among a lot more people not just because they are more affordable but because you don’t need a wealth of photographic knowledge to use one. You can pretty much pick it up, load the film and go. They're on sale in fashion high street stores such as Urban Outfitters or online at ASOS and marketed to a fashion-conscious market that favors the aesthetic of instant film over digital.

It’s impossible to know how much revenue will be affected by sales of the X-H2 until the results of Q3 in the 2022 fiscal year are published but expect them to be another huge win for Fujifilm. Having experienced a hard few years, Fujifilm has bounced back despite part shortages and delays. It has produced one of its best cameras ever, continued to see an increase in revenue and beaten one of the major players of the camera world in sales. Fujifilm has once again proved not everything is about full-frame cameras, sometimes it’s the simplest products that do the best. Who knows, maybe Nikon will think about launching an instant camera in the future...

Find out which Fujifilm cameras feature in the best mirrorless camera guide or discover the best Fujifilm lenses including primes, telephoto zooms, and macro lenses. These are the best Nikon cameras.