[Kunzite]

BCN had published the sales ranking for the first half of the year.
Pentax is doing quite well, 7.8% put them on the 4th place - before Nikon, Canon, Panasonic and ahead of Olympus and Sony. It's obvious though the need for new products (which - I have no doubt - will soon be launched).

The original article:
2010???????????1????????????????????
Google translated:
Google Translate
A nice analysis made by Radu A. (since he's better than me with such things... here I go):
Sales ranking in Japan (first half of 2010): Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

[kevinschoenmakers]

A summary:

As taken from the linked thread on dpreview.com:

1) Nikon 34% (2009: 2nd - 31.3%)
2) Canon 31.4% (1st - 39.1%)
3) Panasonic 10.9% (3rd - 8.7%)
4) Pentax 7.8% (6th - 6.4%)
5) Olympus 7.7% (5th - 6.6%)
6) Sony 7.5% (4th - 7.5%)

So, all manufacturers are in the plus, except for Canon, which has lost considerably, and Sony, which has remained stable percentage-wise but dropped 2 places nonetheless.

The author notes the following for every manufacturer:

Nikon slashed prices across the board in Japan and the results are increased market share (and also no profits for 2009 - although the camera division was profitable it wasn't enough to offset the losses of other divisions).

Canon seems to me the big loser of the year mostly because their best seller (550D - Kiss X4) failed to sell even remotely close of what it's ancestors did in their time (450 and 500D cameras).

Panasonic marches on with its program and seems to me the company with the most coherent strategy, one that will see them grow naturally even further. They don't count on a single camera wonder but a range of well made and targeted cameras.

Pentax sail on K-x succes but for me it is disappointing not to see K-7 make it to the Top 20. It is probably too old for Japanese market and even D300s scored a paltry 19th place. I bet the next model in K-7 class will do better though.

Olympus is almost officially a m43 company (at least regarding the Japanese market). They seized to exist as a "classic dslrs manufacturer" as not a single such model made it to Top 20. Even further the combined 3 m43 models market share is 7% that means the combined rest of ALL Oly models make up for 0.7% a laughable number. Oly bet the house on m43 and IMHO is about to lose it being squeezed between Panasonic and Sony.

Sony had a dismal performance saved only by the month of June when they sold a massive 19.4% (one in 5th camera sold in Japan) worth of NEX 3 and mostly NEX 5. Without that products they would of been the sole (and sore) losers of the current top.

As taken from the BCN article:

Rank	Model	%
1	Nikon D90	13.0
2	Canon EOS Kiss X3 (500D/T1i)	11.5
3	Nikon D5000	10.6
4	Canon EOS Kiss X4 (550D/T2i)	9.7
5	Nikon D3000	7.9
6	Pentax K-x	6.3
7	Panasonic LUMIX GF1	6.1
8	Olympus E-PL1	4.6
9	Canon EOS 7D	3.5
10	Canon EOS Kiss X2 (450D/XSi)	3.1
11	Panasonic LUMIX G1	2.7
12	Sony NEX-5	2.0
13	Canon EOS 5D MarkII	1.8
14	Canon EOS 50D	1.7
15	Sony α550	1.5
16	Sony α330	1.4
17	Olympus E-P2	1.3
18	Panasonic LUMIX G2	1.3
19	Nikon D300s	1.3
20	Olympus E-P1	1.1

Percentage DSLR APS-C: 71.5%
Percentage DSLR FF: 1.8%
Percentage Mirrorless: 19.1%
Unknown: 7.6%

[northcoastgreg]

Percentage DSLR APS-C: 71.5%
Percentage DSLR FF: 1.8%
Percentage Mirrorless: 19.1%
Unknown: 7.6%

If the percentages for DSLR FF are as dismal world-wide as they are in Japan, then talk about FF replacing APS-C any time soon are grossly unrealistic. The superior economy of scale for the APS-C sensors, based on the immense superiority in sales, will give it a significant competitive advantage in price for years to come. Those hoping for a Pentax FF better hope that FF sales world-wide, in terms of percentages, aren't nearly so uninspiring as they are in Japan.

[Samsungian]

I wonder how Pentax sales in Japan translate elsewhere ?

Do sales elsewhere, outside Japan matter to Pentax ?

It would be fun to buy Pentax in Japan, however
in my town Pentax can't be found anywhere, except for used items.

Here's a pictured filled thread showing Pentax for sale in Japan.

Pentax Shrine - Photo.net Pentax Forum

[youky63]

I wonder how Pentax sales in Japan translate elsewhere ?

Do sales elsewhere, outside Japan matter to Pentax ?

It would be fun to buy Pentax in Japan, however
in my town Pentax can't be found anywhere, except for used items.

Here's a pictured filled thread showing Pentax for sale in Japan.

Pentax Shrine - Photo.net Pentax Forum

I was there last weekend... ;-) --> Yodobashi Camera Umeda, Osaka.
And yes, here we can find almost everything existing in Pentax quite easily (so bad he is not showing the 645 area...)

[Rondec]

It is a little disappointing that the K7 didn't do better on the sales rankings. Particularly considering the price that it is selling at, it seems to be a pretty good match for the D90. Overall though, it seems as though this is a victory for entry level cameras. I know that the T2i is an "upper end" Rebel, but it is still a Rebel.

[Samsungian]

You may check the thread date, I don't think 645D was released yet.

I am very impressed with the Pentax store display there in Osaka.

I was there last weekend... ;-) --> Yodobashi Camera Umeda, Osaka.
And yes, here we can find almost everything existing in Pentax quite easily (so bad he is not showing the 645 area...)

[Samsungian]

I came close to adding K-7 for $763 at B&H but the Samsung sensor in it bothers me.
The K-x Sony sensor seems superior, image quality wise.
I do wonder if K-7 replacement will be worth waiting for.
I own K20D and it seems the sensor in K20D and K-7 are pretty much the same so I wait...

For K-7 to go well below $700 or its replacement to wow me instead.



Javier had TWO K-7 that did not WOW him, so waiting seems the best option:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/1101882-post24.html

It is a little disappointing that the K7 didn't do better on the sales rankings. Particularly considering the price that it is selling at, it seems to be a pretty good match for the D90. Overall though, it seems as though this is a victory for entry level cameras. I know that the T2i is an "upper end" Rebel, but it is still a Rebel.

[sjwaldron]

The top sellers seem to hover around the $800 price point. That must be the range most are willing to take the plunge at. I'd like to know if buyers for the year were just getting into photography, or were mostly people upgrading an old camera body.

The full frame percentage does seem surprisingly small, but it is still in the high-end realm it seems. More profit and less volume. Will the volume crowd be happy to upgrade to APS-C for their next camera? Admittedly, it took me around 5 years to go from a *ist DS to the K-7. However just saying that FF is a small pointless market, so don't bother... would be missing a good opportunity with a properly priced model (assuming FF sensors have come done in price enough).

[youky63]

You may check the thread date, I don't think 645D was released yet.

I am very impressed with the Pentax store display there in Osaka.

Yes I know it was not yet released, but still there is a whole cabinet as big as the Pentax DSLR one for 645 lenses and film bodies.
About K-7 sales, do not expect good results. For people that doesn't know well this model, this is just an expensive camera, without the highest pixel count or anything special.
For people that know well, this is a camera with a little appreciated (korean!!) sensor. That's why Pentax must stop to buy sensors to Samsung (there is almost NO Samsung products in Japan, no camera, no TV, etc...).

[Samsungian]

I own three full frame dslrs and one Pentax aps-c.

I do really wonder if I'll ever buy another aps-c

The top sellers seem to hover around the $800 price point. That must be the range most are willing to take the plunge at. I'd like to know if buyers for the year were just getting into photography, or were mostly people upgrading an old camera body.

The full frame percentage does seem surprisingly small, but it is still in the high-end realm it seems. More profit and less volume. Will the volume crowd be happy to upgrade to APS-C for their next camera? Admittedly, it took me around 5 years to go from a *ist DS to the K-7. However just saying that FF is a small pointless market, so don't bother... would be missing a good opportunity with a properly priced model (assuming FF sensors have come done in price enough).

[Samsungian]

I agree, Samsung lessor quality sensor hurts K-7 sales

Sony clearly makes better sensors, and K-x owners love the image quality.


In a real way, Sony is #1 seller globally because:

Sony supplies sensors to Sony, Nikon, & Pentax K-x.

Yes I know it was not yet released, but still there is a whole cabinet as big as the Pentax DSLR one for 645 lenses and film bodies.
About K-7 sales, do not expect good results. For people that doesn't know well this model, this is just an expensive camera, without the highest pixel count or anything special.
For people that know well, this is a camera with a little appreciated (korean!!) sensor. That's why Pentax must stop to buy sensors to Samsung (there is almost NO Samsung products in Japan, no camera, no TV, etc...).

[RonHendriks1966]

Nice to see how well Pentax is doing in Japan. If the market total is about the same Pentax invreased sales by more than 20 % so that's a good year. Having some more camera-types for sale wood be a good idea in that market.

[nosnoop]

If the percentages for DSLR FF are as dismal world-wide as they are in Japan, then talk about FF replacing APS-C any time soon are grossly unrealistic.

That's what I have been saying all along. The FF market is minuscule, the growth has been unimpressive - and it is completely dominated by Canon and Nikon. I just see no economic reason to jump into the FF market at this point.

[nosnoop]

Chart from Jan to June:




In an earlier thread, Pål insisted that EVIL is a P&S and does not affect DSLR sales.
The chart above says otherwise.

The red line is combined Canon+Nikon DSLR sales, while the yellow line is the combined mirrorless system sales. You can see how the rise of mirrorless system taking the market share away from Canon/Nikon!

Nice to see how well Pentax is doing in Japan.

OTOH, one single model accounting of most of Pentax sales is not healthy, and they need to have a successful replacement model just to maintain the market share.

In the chart above, the purple segment is Pentax. As you can see, Pentax had 10-12% market share in Jan, and it has since steadily declined to around 5% in June.