Sony Alpha takes 20% market share in Japan

According to Bloomberg, Sony Corporation has taken more than a fifth of Japan's digital single-lens reflex camera market in its debut month. Considering that the only other 10 megapixel DSLR on the market within the same range was the more expensive Nikon D200, I'm not surprised.

What will be interesting is if the Sony Alpha can maintain this momentum when the similar spec Nikon D80 and the Canon 400D / Rebel Xti goes on sale.

Bloomberg write : ".. Sony, which began selling its ``alpha DSLR-A100'' on July 21, had a 21.6 percent share in the month and a 19 percent share in the three weeks to Aug. 20, compared with the Tokyo-based company's target for 10 percent of the global market this year, according to data compiled by BCN.

The camera is one of the "champion products'' Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer has said the company will focus on to revitalize profit. Stringer's strategy is to concentrate investment on fewer devices, including flat-screen televisions and digital cameras, after cutting jobs and shutting factories.

Sony's first SLR can shoot photos at 10.2 megapixels and sells for about $900 without a lens and $1,000 with one. The camera is compatible with older lenses made by Konica Minolta Holdings Inc., whose SLR business Sony bought this year.

"On top of having a powerful brand name for digital cameras, Sony sent out a clear message with the $1,000 pricing for a 10.2 megapixel camera, which led to the high market share,'' said Shigehiro Tanaka, BCN weekly publication's editorial director. "Sony successfully used Minolta's assets, as many consumers bought only the body,'' he said.

Taking From Canon
"It seems like Minolta camera fans, who had been waiting for a new product for years, are rushing to buy'' Sony's camera, said Koji Ashizawa, senior managing director at Canon Marketing Japan Inc., the domestic sales unit for Tokyo-based Canon. After the initial jump in sales, they "should settle'' at around Sony's target of a 10 percent market share, he said after a press conference unveiling Canon's new digital SLR today." Canon's market share fell to 33.3 percent in July from 51.6 percent in the previous month. Nikon's dropped to 27.4 percent, from 32.6 percent, partly because the dominant camera makers did not have new models. Canon's "EOS Kiss Digital N,'' was the best-seller in July, and Nikon's "D70s'' came in third. Both models were introduced in the first half of 2005.

Highest-Margin Segment
Single-lens reflex cameras have become the most profitable part of the digital camera market, as price competition has driven margins lower for compact cameras. The models have interchangeable lenses and appeal to professionals and hobbyists.

Canon today unveiled its new "EOS Kiss Digital X'' model with a 10.1 megapixel sensor, which will go on sale on Sept. 8 for an estimated retail price of 90,000 yen ($770) without a lens. The company plans to make 180,000 units per month.

Canon Marketing's Ashizawa said the company is aiming for a 45 percent market share with the new model alone in the first four months of its launch to Dec. 31. "Normally, you would think it's impossible, but we can do it,'' he said.

"The digital SLR market is still small and Sony is still new in this area. It is unclear how long Sony will be able to maintain the high share at this point,'' said BCN's Tanaka. "Canon and Nikon are expected to fight back, so Sony's 20 percent share is not concrete,'' he said.

Digital camera shipments are forecast to rise to 67.3 million units in 2006, up 4 percent from last year, according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association. Digital SLR shipments are expected to lead the gain, with a 23 percent increase from a year earlier, and reach 4.7 million units.

Panasonic Struggles
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which entered the fastest growing part of the digital camera market a day after rival Sony, had a 0.8 percent share in July and 0.9 percent in August. The company's 7.5 megapixel "LUMIX DMC-L1'' models are sold for about $2,000 with a Leica lens.

Matsushita, the world's biggest consumer electronics maker, plans to sell about 50,000 units in the eight months or so to March 31, or the end of the Osaka-based company's fiscal year. The maker of Panasonic brand electronics allied with Olympus Corp. to jointly develop digital SLRs in January 2005.

"The price difference with Sony is more than 100,000 yen,'' BCN's Tanaka said. "It is their challenge to appeal to high-end amateurs,'' he said.

Sony and Panasonic's entry into the digital SLR market, ``is much welcomed, as this will raise consumer awareness and accelerate the growth of the overall digital SLR market,'' said Canon Marketing's Ashizawa. Canon expects the domestic digital SLR market to grow to more than 1 million units by 2010 from the estimated 660,000 units this year.



Source: Bloomberg