Industry analyst GfK has released its latest findings on the digital imaging market, highlighting new and growing categories as strong opportunity areas.
Action cams, drones, head cams and smart glasses – all of these applications are now as much a part of imaging as taking photos with conventional cameras or smartphones, GfK says. Areas of application also include the automotive sector, security and medical technology. Across this broad range, global sales of imaging equipment to consumers will rise to 1.6 billion units in 2016.
A wide variety of imaging options, younger target groups, and changing requirements regarding image use and image quality ensure that the global imaging market will continue to develop dynamically with an increasing number of new applications, GfK adds.
This year, action cams and camera drones will generate global sales of over 2 billion euros with their new target groups. Camera drones for the consumer market are recording particularly strong growth, with 10 million being sold in 2016 for the first time. This equates to a global growth in volume of 150% and an increase in sales of 160%.
The global action cam market will also continue to grow in 2016 with sales exceeding 10 million units. The number of units sold and sales will each increase by 25%. This growth is supported by constant product innovations in this segment, GfK notes. Virtual reality is creating an ecosystem of action cams, drones and video glasses, offering new possible links. Although the share of sales held by virtual reality action cams is still in single digits, their share of the market is growing rapidly.
Opportunities by standing out from smartphone photography
The developments in the imaging sector continue to pose a challenge to the conventional camera sector, as demonstrated by global market trends in the hardware sector, with digital cameras now accounting for only 36 million units in the global imaging market. This corresponds to a share of 2.3%. Total global sales will fall by 15% to 13.4 billion euros, a trend that is predominantly due to the SLR segment and simple compact cameras. The smartphone is increasingly replacing simple compact cameras as the new entry-level camera, GfK notes.
Product concepts with significant added value compared to the smartphone offer promising potential growth in the camera market, with a stable trend in sales and clear growth.
For example, sales of high-quality WiFi-enabled travel zoom cameras in a price range between 250 and 500 euros remain stable in comparison to the previous year. They account for 10% of total compact camera sales. There is also a solid trend for compact cameras priced above 500 euros. They already have a 21% share of sales. Compact system cameras costing over 1,000 euros are growing by 42% and now have a 37% share of sales of all mirrorless cameras. Sales of 4K cameras have quadrupled in comparison to the previous year. Their share of sales has increased to 11%.
Opportunities and challenges
These trends indicate what potential exists in the industry, with the extended imaging context creating opportunities for all providers to forge ahead into new segments or to develop them, GfK believes.
It is also important to develop the areas of growth in the high-quality camera segment; maximum image quality, connectivity, simple handling and attractive product design are keywords if these cameras are to stand out from the smartphone as the “new entry-level camera”. Easier product handling and simple re-use of images are also important to attract younger target groups. These are also the findings of a global consumer survey conducted by GfK: 54% of respondents lose interest if a product is not simple to use.
