jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's no surprise that camera sales in general are dropping. Mirrorless sales are rising while DSLR sales are dropping. I expect all three conditions to continue. meanwhile, I just keep shooting with my cameras.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Cell phone/phone cameras and big changes in what the expectations of the younger folks desire, are a huge driver for this. Whether Professional or advanced amateur/hobbiest, we are a shrinking market. The phones (love them/hate them/or something in-between), are the technological wonder this age, instant connectivity, apps for everything, extreme portability, little "do-all" wonders. It is without doubt a huge and growing market, self perpetuating and heavily subsidized by manufacturers and carriers (something we don't enjoy with DSLR/MILC, etc. cameras). Modern cameras are superb instruments, but misteps along the way have really hurt the camera market, and the average person's view of and desire to have a "real camera" has really suffered.

The market for "real, stand alone cameras" will shrink as we who loved them grow old and die off, with a smaller number of folks replacing us over time. You will still have the Pro Photog's/advanced and serious hobbiest using Pro gear and photography specific gear for the forseeable future, but the phones (and possibly the next iteration of camera phone or something else) will keep garnering market share. The occasional photog is going to continue to gravitate towards the cellular devices. If you don't need the array of lenses/equipment many of us use, nor the advanced features of cameras, why even carry one, the phone will suffice, and you don't have to be "Photography Knowledgeable" to use them for sharing, posting social media, etc. AND, these same folks do absolutely no Post Processing, nor feel any need to do PP. Any way you look at it, the camera market is still shrinking/compacting, the cellular market continues to expand.

I also think the camera manufacturers shot themselves in the foot releasing droves (millions) of inadequate, poor performing point-n-shoots and cheap cameras in huge numbers to try and counter the camera phone invasion...that didn't work at all, and it turned off many would be camera buyers, many who did and still do make better photos with their phones. Those folks will probably never come back to cameras....they felt "burnt". Just ask them, they will tell you why they have no interest in a stand-alone camera.........

I will most likely go to the grave with real photography gear (hell, I still carry a flip-phone)...may get a fancy smart phone when the old flip dies, but it does what I want, and my home computing devices (PC, Laptop, tablet, smart TV's and such) give me all the world touching connectivity I need, for the forseeable future. My vision and mental facaulties/physical limitations would be the impediment down the road, for now (and hopefully a long time) I will be able to enjoy all my photography gear in the way's that make me happy and proud of what I can produce.

Another $.02

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Mirrorless cameras are cameras and when Canon / Nikon talk of camera units being sold, they mean any interchangeable lens camera, whether it has a mirror or not.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Also a good point, no need to separate.

khorinek

I also like the idea of updating the "hardware" as mentioned in this post. Why not update the sensor, or other features that new models my have. My Mark III looks almost identical to my Mark IV. The biggest difference is the internal parts. If you put these two models side by side most people couldn't tell them apart if you covered up the labels. Instead of manufacturing a new model with the new hardware and technology, why not send it in to canon and have a hardware and firmware update?

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Thank you. Finally someone stated on the WEB what I figured out several years ago (and I'm not a business person but a biologist and hobbyist photographer), and from a engineer who may know what they are talking about.

"Many articles have been written about the fact that it is automation that eliminates jobs NOT immigration and cheap labor."

If only politicians and racists would be aware of that.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Camera sales is getting very competitive these days. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Fuji, Tamron, Sigma and some others have been taking a piece of the pie from the big two and it's expected that the big two would see a decrease in sales. They can't have it all.

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Those darn automobile factories! Before long there won't be any more buggy and wagon makers around unless they start making automobiles.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

So glad we've nipped that corpulent prattling in the proverbial bud. :-)

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Trying to follow this. Are you talking about market share as you say in your first line (Canon market share is up around 4 points) or the total market (which fell by a large 20ish%)? They are two separate issues.

josquin1 Loc: Massachusetts

Canon does not have all of their sales in just cameras. They have great professional printers, cine cameras etc. I'm not sure but does Nikon?

Edia Loc: Central New Jersey

Cell phone cameras are getting better each year while dedicated cameras change incrementally. The market for dedicated cameras keep shrinking for this reason. Most people just want to take snapshots that are in focus. That leaves only photo hobbyists and pros to buy the expensive, large and heavy cameras and lenses.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I find it interesting that Canon is being up front and honest about cameras.
What is the status of the other makers?
Sony appears to be purely a dillante in real cameras and once the market is to a point they don't like it they will move on to the next fun thing to do.
The other manufacturers seem much more serious about the still amateur and pro user.

dick ranez

A better indicator may be enrollments in high school, junior college, trade school and college photography classes. How you get that number is beyond me but intuition tells me numbers are up.