Sony has managed to recapture its top market shares for mirrorless single-lens camera sales in Japan, after choosing to resume taking orders for popular camera products. Beating out the likes of Canon, Panasonic, Nikon and Fujifilm, the brand has returned to the top ranks for the first time in nine months, since last October.
Just a few days following the BCN Retail market share report victory (see graph below), Sony Japan has also announced a price increase on many of its best Sony cameras and best Sony lenses, expected to take affect from the September 1 2022.
After finally resuming orders for some of its most popular products, such as the Sony A6 series cameras, that had been put on hold due to a global parts supply shortage, Sony has successfully reclaimed its place at the top of the market shares in Japan for mirrorless single-lens camera sales.
It was confirmed in the official BCN Retail ranking report, which accumulates sales information gathered from mass consumer electronics retailers as well as camera specialty stores and nationwide online outlets to obtain its results, that Sony 's market recovery is without a doubt due to the recent resumption of its order acceptance, and improved product supply chain in the fulfillment of orders.
In addition, Sony Japan has also recently announced (as first reported by SonyAlphaRumors) that it will be raising the price on many of its products beginning from September 1 2022, elaborating that the cost of raw materials, manufacturing, and distribution has "soared", causing the company to revise its prices with an average price revision rate expected at an 8% increase.
The translated statement from Sony Japan reads:
"From September 1, 2022, Sony Marketing Inc. will revise the manufacturer's shipping prices for some products sold in Japan. Due to the impact of the recent external environment, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing, and distribution has soared, so we will revise the shipping price as follows. At the same time, we will revise the suggested retail price for products that have set the manufacturer's suggested retail price."
Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter
The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!
The worldwide chip shortage and parts supply issues have spelled disaster for not only Sony, but nearly every major camera and technology manufacturer, with Canon delaying products by 6 months, and Nikon discontinuing its 2-year-old cameras altogether! The ongoing chip shortage is still one of the many obstacles in the way that is preventing consumers from being able to get their hands on one of the highly sought-after Sony Playstation 5 Consoles.
This confirmation from BCN's market share report emphasizes just how crucial the product supply shortage has been on the camera manufacturing industry, and the enormous impact it has had on Sony in particular. The company's market share ranking has miraculously reached the top spot once again as a direct result of the chain of supply and demand eventually stabilizing.
Sony's market share in this area was recorded at 41.8% in September last year, and then proceeded to drop sharply to a mere 15.0% in May 2022. Sony was then surprisingly overtaken by OM Digital Solutions (Olympus), as Sony's market share then fell to a somber third place ranking overall.
The popular Sony ZV-E10 mirrorless camera for Vloggers had its orders suspended late last year, around November/December time, despite being a big hit with filmmakers entering the digital camera market. Sony finally resumed accepting and processing orders for this Vlog Cam on 24 June 2022.
When looking at BCN Rankings' sales share by product breakdown (graph above), it's abundantly clear how popular the Sony ZV-E10, or VLOGCAM as it is listed, has become in comparison with the likes of the Canon EOS M50 Mark II (EOS Kiss M2 in Japan), and the Olympus Pen E-PL10, as well as other Sony entries such as the Sony A6400 and the extremely popular among professionals: Sony A7 IV.
When the Sony ZV-E10 was first released around September 2021, the market share for this camera was the top ranking at 19.8%. However, after production couldn't keep up and resulted in sluggish sales, this soon fell to 0.3%, almost zero, in May 2022. Thankfully, when the resumption of orders commenced in July, the stats for this vlogging camera made a swift recovery at 13.1%, contributing greatly to Sony's recapture of the top market shares.
You may also be interested in our guide to the best Sony lenses, or perhaps more specifically the best lenses for Sony A6000 cameras. Be sure to grab yourself a steal and check out the best Sony A7 III deals in August as well as our suggestions for the best full frame mirrorless cameras.
