Cameras big in Japan again
AFTER over a decade of bleak news about the key Japanese camera market, domestic research rm GfK Japan has reported positive growth for the rst time in 13 years. According to GfK, sales volume in 2023 reached 1.2 million units, a year-on-year rise of 7%.
As widely reported in AP, demand for higher-end mirrorless cameras is helping reverse the trend, despite the ever-increasing photographic prowess of smartphones; makers can charge premium prices for top-end models, while stylish compacts, notably the Fuji lm X100VI, are all the rage, thanks in no small part to social media in uencers. Indeed, unit sales of compacts rose by 6%, only three percentage points behind interchangeable-lens cameras. Kaoru Takeuchi, a science writer, made some perceptive comments on the story when it recently appeared on the website of Nikkei, Japan’s business bible. ‘Unlike shooting with a smartphone, shooting with a digital camera offers the pleasure of creating a ‘piece of work.’ I think the younger generation is becoming more aware of creating art, and are starting to do things with cameras that they can’t do with smartphones. Young people also seem to enjoy taking pictures with retro-designed digital cameras...’ Nikkei also cited the post-Covid recovery in travel and tourism as a driver of the sales uplift. We are still a long way off from 2010, when the Japanese market peaked at 10.4 million units, but it’s encouraging news for camera makers nonetheless.