Canon, Sony and Samsung all increased their overall digital camera market share in 2006 at the expense of rivals, while Canon and Nikon lost some DSLR market share to other competitors in that portion of the market, says a new report from research firm IDC.

According to the report, "2006 Worldwide Digital Camera Market Share", the overall market for digital cameras worldwide grew by some 14.5% to 106 million units. As expected, digital SLRs showed robust growth with a total market for 5.2 million units - 39% up on 2005 figures

Japan's Canon Inc. dominated, solidifying its first-place position in overall digicam sales, and retaining a solid lead in DSLR sales. The company shipped an impressive 19.7 million digital cameras worldwide in 2006, a 23.3% increase in shipments that saw its market share rise 1.3% to 18.7% overall. In the digital SLR marketplace, Canon increased shipments by 30.7% to almost 2.5 million units. The company's global DSLR market share fell by 2.8% to 46.7%, still a fairly commanding 13.7% lead over nearest DSLR competitor Nikon Inc.

Sony Corp. consolidated its second place in overall digicam sales, increasing its market share by 0.6% to 15.8% of the global market. Sony shipped a total of 16.7 million digital cameras in 2006, a 19.2% increase on 2005 figures. Meanwhile the company's entry into the digital SLR market saw Sony debut in third place with a 6.2% market share, after its purchase of Konica Minolta's DSLR unit. Sony shipped a total of 326,240 digital SLRs in 2006.

In third place in the global digital camera market was Eastman Kodak Co., the only company in the top six to record a decrease in overall shipments. Kodak's unit sales fell 24.4% as unprofitable sales were purged, and the company's market share fell 4.2% to 10.0% worldwide. None of Kodak's 10.6 million units shipped in 2006 were digital SLR models, after the company discontinued its DSLR line having recorded just 0.5% market share in 2005.

Fourth place overall went to Olympus Corp. with 8.6% market share, a drop of 1.2% from a year previously. The company shipped 9.1 million digital still cameras - just 0.3% above 2005 figures. In the digital SLR market, Olympus gained 0.2% market share to 5.9%, increasing shipments by an impressive 43.3% to 311,116 units.

Undoubtedly the big winner in the 2006 ranking was Korea's Samsung, more than doubling its shipments and jumping four places to fifth overall. Samsung's market share soared 4% to 7.8%, with the company shipping 8.3 million digital cameras - a whopping 133.5% increase on 2005 shipments. While Samsung didn't make the top five in digital SLR sales, the company's partner in digital SLR development did. Pentax Corp. shipped 285,932 digital SLRs in 2006, achieving fifth place with a market share of 5.4% - a gain of 0.8% on the previous year.

Nikon Inc. was the only company in the top six to be surpassed by a rival in terms of market share, courtesy of Samsung's remarkable climb. Falling from fifth to sixth place, Nikon lost 0.3% market share to 7.6% overall, despite an 11.2% increase in total digital camera shipments worldwide. Of 8.1 million units shipped, Nikon sold 1.7 million digital SLRs - achieving second place overall in this high-growth category. This equates to a 35.9% increase in DSLR shipments for the company, but also to a 0.7% drop in DSLR market share.

Source: imaging-resource

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