2024 Could Be Best Year for Camera and Lens Sales in Years(0)

Just over halfway through the year, CIPA data shows optimistic sales outlook for mirrorless, compact cameras and lenses ...... but not for DSLRs

The Camera Imaging Products Association (CIPA), the trade body for Japanese camera and lens makers, has released export data for July showing that camera and lens shipments so far in 2024 have exceeded those of the past few years. More than half of the year has already passed, and if the trend continues, this year is expected to be healthier than previous years.

In fact, the July figures show the strongest monthly shipments of cameras and lenses globally to date, with steady month-on-month growth throughout the year, except for a slight decline in June. with July 2024 up 8 per cent on July 2023, the market is looking very healthy indeed.

The figures show that 801,240 cameras were shipped in July 2024, compared to 741,743 in July 2023, and 725,994 for the same month in 2022. Of these, 630,128 were interchangeable lens cameras (that's mirrorless cameras and DSLRs combined) in 2024 compared with 592,646 (2023) and 556,176 (2022).

Meanwhile, shipments of compact cameras totalled 171,112 for July 2024 – a massive 14% rise year on year. So that's more proof of the resurgence of these fixed-lens cameras.

Delving a little deeper into CIPA's convoluted tables of stats, it's no great surprise to see that mirrorless camera sales are the main drivers in camera sales, no doubt buoyed by the recent launches of the Nikon Z6 III and Canon EOS R5 II, with a 12.9% increase over the same time last year. And equally unsurprisingly, DSLR sales continue to decline, with a near-25% decrease compared to 2023 – as the choice of DSLRs in the market continues to shrink.

Lens shipments are also showing an increase compared to the preceding years, with the July figures showing a total of 898,637 (2024), 866,038 (2023), and 862,336 (2022) lenses shipped.

These figures only represent shipments of cameras and lenses originating in Japan – but then again, as the CIPA represents the main Japanese industry players (Canon, Cosina, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, Sony, Tamron, Tokina, Ricoh and Zeiss) it's by far the vast majority of the traditional enthusiast camera market.

If the trend is in line with previous years, we expect shipments to continue to grow until they peak in September-October and then taper off in the final months of the year.