BCN Ranking Japan releases digital SLR sales in Japan from 1 January 2009 to 23 December 2009. From the table, we can see that this is pretty much a Canon year. Canon beginner cameras alone capture 30.7% of the market share. Overall, Canon captures 37% market share in Japan. Nikon, the arch rival of Canon, did pretty well but still far from Nikon at 28%.
Note: Kiss 3 is Canon T1i / 500D
Kiss 2 is Canon XSi / 450D
and Kiss F is Canon XS / 1000D
Then, come Panasonic with three micro four third cameras capturing almost 10%. Olympus, Sony and HOYA/Pentax captures around 4% of market share.
Section by section analysis:
Beginner cameras: Canon T1i is the best seller in 2009, and Canon XS, the most affordable Canon DSLR only get 1.6%. This indicate that Japan consumers favor higher end model and feel that T1i is a worthwhile upgrade.
On the other hand, the new Nikon D3000 does poorly in the chart, a lot lower than Nikon D60 or D40 (its predecessor). This might indicates that the improvement is perceived not good enough.
Mid-range cameras: Nikon D90 is the best seller in this section with 9.1%. With Canon 40D being phased out, and Canon 50D being more expensive, Nikon D90 is a nice compromise for serious photo enthusiasts.
Micro four thirds and four thirds cameras: All Panasonic micro four thirds cameras hit the chart. Olympus E-P1, the first ultra-compact m43 camera is also doing well but classic four thirds cameras are not doing well. Olympus E-620, E-30 do not make it to the chart.
Advanced cameras: Canon are leading again with Canon 50D, Canon 5D mark II and relatively new Canon 7D. Surprisingly, No Nikon cameras such as Nikon D300/s and D700 are able to hit the chart.
Sony and Pentax: Despite aggressive redesign, Sony failed to impress Japan market with their new cameras. Pentax however, are a mixed bag. Pentax K7 failed to hit the chart because of the below average image sensor, but Pentax k-m and k-x sales are quite well. Especially for Pentax k-x, this is camera has a big potential because it does very well in the last couple months.
This result is quite surprising and quite different from other market such as USA or other part of the world.
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