144,000 Nikon D3 made annually

Samsungian · 09-25-2009, 09:03 PM

Yeah, I know full frame sales are "small percentage" of dslr sales. I was poking around and found this:

144,000 Nikon D3 are made annually, 12,000 per month, 600 per day.

Rob Galbraith DPI: Nikon D3, D300 already being manufactured for sale in November

D3 is one of three nikon full frames. D3 ranges from $4,100 to $5,000 new.
D700 ranges from $2319 to $3,000 so I might assume Nikon sells more than 144,000 D700 annually?

Finding production numbers is not always easy, so I thought I'd share the link.

ryan s · 09-26-2009, 12:45 PM

You do know cameras are made all at once, right? They make X cameras for a Y camera life cycle. If the Y is longer or shorter, there may be fewer or more X for the customer when the new model drops. Kinda like someone dies on Earth every 6 seconds or something like that. Do people only die every 6 seconds? Do 600 D3's sell daily? Hmmmmmmmm...averages.

If the demand continues, they may ramp up production again. I would bet that only the best selling cameras and lenses are "constantly" produced like the Rebel series.

Also, you should check dates for articles: "The Nikon D3 and D300 are slated to ship in November 2007."

Samsungian · 09-26-2009, 02:54 PM

Yes, I saw the date, whats your point?

Rob Galbraith went to a Nikon plant in Japan and got dslr production info firsthand.

Anybody got an article or link covering a recent visit to a Pentax production plant in Japan?

Nikon was scheduled to build 600 D3 per day at a rate of 12,000 per month which equalled 144,000 per year. This was at start of their production cycle for their first full frame camera. I found the article interesting. And it stands as proof to me that full frame is not a "small market" since Nikon seems to have made more D3 the past two years than all the dslrs combined that Pentax made in same two year period. Unless you've got Pentax dslr production numbers to refute my asumption Ryan? Pentax sells $1299 or less cost aps-c crop format only dslrs and Nikon with one full frame priced at $4,000 to $5000 each outproduced all of Pentax Dslr offers from $500 to $1299.

Unit versus unit, past two years:

More full frame D3 cameras are made versus the entire line up of Pentax crop format dslrs combined.

People like to say Full frame is a small market, well if thats true then all of Pentax Dslr imaging is an even smaller market.

ryan s · 09-27-2009, 12:51 PM

Numbers, numbers, blah blah blah...this is a Nikon thread...since when do I have to provide any Pentax stats?

So how long was the Nikon production cycle for the D3? "144,000 annually" doesn't indicate any time span.

Let's do some math. Nikon D3 at $4000 a pop. Article published about 2 years ago.

600 units per day * 30 days in a month * 48 months * $4000 each = $3,456,000,000

or

144,000 units per year * 2 years * $4000 each = $3,456,000,000

Still confident on your hypothesis?

That would mean that approximately 33% of their revenue comes from D3's ALONE since their 2008 revenue was $9.53B Nikon Corporation - RakedIn.com

Is that even possible when FF cams hold like a 5% market share?

Samsungian · 09-27-2009, 03:22 PM

144,000 TIMES $4,000 = $576,000,000 Million Dollars,

not "$3,456,000,000" Billion Dollars

at $576,000,000 a year it'll take 6 years to hit your "$3,456,000,000" answer and not one year.

I wonder what D3 wholesale price is?

Nikon doesn't get $4,000 for most of their D3 sales just the ones they sell themselves at retail.

I've read pentax dslr marketshare is 4% so if we use your "5%" quote from no source concerning "full frame market is 5%" then pentax still sells less aps-c crop cameras than full frames are made and are sold from Nikon or Canon and Nikon combined. I highly doubt the 5% is accurate thesedays. Maybe a few years ago before Nikon made their first D3 the 5% number was valid. Nikon offers 3 full frames dslrs thesedays. Canon has made what, 6 full frames total and two are still in production.

If Full frame market is so very small & insignificant, then whats this say about Pentax having an even smaller Dslr market share?

No Biggie. I found the article interesting and would love to see a similar article about a visit to a Pentax in Japan production plant in 2009 and its production stats. There are Pentax Dslr Camera and Lens production plants still residing in Japan, I assume?

ryan s · 09-27-2009, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by Samsungian

144,000 TIMES $4,000 = $576,000,000 Million Dollars,

Per year...$500M+ doesn't sound a little high for a cam that might get 2% of Nikon's shares? 2% if it's lucky.

Originally Posted by Samsungian

Nikon doesn't get $4,000 for most of their D3 sales just the ones they sell themselves at retail.

No no, don't play that game. You quoted them at $4-5k apiece, don't go lowering the price so your numbers seem more logical.

Originally Posted by Samsungian

I've read pentax dslr marketshare is 4% so if we use your "5%" quote from no source concerning "full frame market is 5%" then pentax still sells less aps-c crop cameras than full frames are made and are sold from Nikon or Canon and Nikon combined. I highly doubt the 5% is accurate thesedays. Maybe a few years ago before Nikon made their first D3 the 5% number was valid. Nikon offers 3 full frames dslrs thesedays. Canon has made what, 6 full frames total and two are still in production.

You got sources for any of these "facts"? My 5% number is close to 4%. If my numbers are wrong, so are yours

Originally Posted by Samsungian

No Biggie. I found the article interesting and would love to see a similar article about a visit to a Pentax in Japan production plant in 2009 and its production stats. There are Pentax Dslr Camera and Lens production plants still residing in Japan, I assume?

Nice try. Obvious troll is obvious.

Since you hate Pentax so much, why are you still here? Is your life really that boring that it leads you to troll forums? (You don't have to actually answer...I already know the answer. That...and I won't bother reading it.)

Samsungian · 09-27-2009, 06:56 PM

Ryan, as usual nice chatting with you Dude.

Any plans to buy any new Pentax items to support the brand?

I hate to think I've dropped more coin on new Pentax equiptment this decade than you. You know since I am a troll and your are a devoted Pentaxian.

I vote with my wallet, and for some reason using your equiptment list as a comparision reference, I seem to be more pentaxian than you

Originally Posted by ryan s

Per year...$500M+ doesn't sound a little high for a cam that might get 2% of Nikon's shares? 2% if it's lucky.

No no, don't play that game. You quoted them at $4-5k apiece, don't go lowering the price so your numbers seem more logical.

You got sources for any of these "facts"? My 5% number is close to 4%. If my numbers are wrong, so are yours

Nice try. Obvious troll is obvious.

Since you hate Pentax so much, why are you still here? Is your life really that boring that it leads you to troll forums? (You don't have to actually answer...I already know the answer. That...and I won't bother reading it.)

*nostatic* · 09-28-2009, 11:18 AM

While I'll try to avoid wading into the goo, the title of this thread isn't really supported by any fact, and is extrapolation from numbers reported on a blog. My bet would be that the factory ramped up for a run of a couple of months, then moved to other products. But since I have to real data, I won't present that as "fact", nor will I put a number to it.