Last week I noticed some information that Nikon is making a strong surge and gain in sales against Canon’s position as the market leader for DSLRs. In 2006, Canon’s market share was 14% above that of Nikon, but for 2007 that margin has dropped to only 3%.
Why the big change in one year? Are Canon’s products getting worse? Does Nikon offer a much better product all of a sudden? I don’t think it’s anything like that… I think it’s simply a question of product placement and availability.
When Canon introduced the original Digital Rebel (300D) in 2003, they offered the first sub-$1000 consumer/prosumer DSLR. Getting the cost down below $1000 led to a bunch of serious hobbyists buying the Canon DSLRs. At this time, the only Nikon options were much more expensive; Nikon simply didn’t have a product offering in this range. Nikon didn’t break the sub-$1000 mark until a year later with the D70.
The other factor I’ve noticed as I go about life is that I’m starting to see the Nikon products in a lot of places. Costco has been a big distribution outlet. They literally have palettes of Nikon D40x cameras right up front, for around $500. Mass marketing works.
My prediction is that we’ll see Nikon and Canon remain a few points apart, with neither holding a commanding lead. And that’s a good thing; it will keep them competing and giving us new features at affordable prices.
On a related note, if you want to see a couple of cool charts showing the timeframes for Canon and Nikon’s DSLR products, go here (Canon) or here (Nikon) and scroll down to the bottom.
