Sony Alpha Rumors has shared a set of slides out of a presentation by Sony South Korea, which indicate that the company is focusing on the high-end A-mount and E-mount segments right now. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Sony has been focusing more on the entry-level and mid-range segments in the recent past. The A99 (our review here) is about to reach the end of a typical digital camera life cycle, and the A7 (our review here) and A7R (our review here) were quite obviously only the beginning of a series of full-frame E-mount cameras.
It is very likely, thus, that the near future will not only see a replacement for the ageing A99 and A77 (our review here) translucent mirror cameras, but also additions to the full-frame E-mount range. Per our own judgement, the single-digit Alpha range has room for at least a more high-end-model (possibly an A9) as well as a lower-end model aimed more at the consumer (possibly an A5 or A3.) In any case, there are many things about the A7 and A7R that can and should be improved.
The slides also mention some other interesting things. For one, they indicate that mirrorless cameras have gained hugely over DSLRs in 2013, though it is unclear whether the figures relate to Sony products or to the overall camera market. On the mirrorless market, Sony claims to have had a 53% share in 2013, which is pretty impressive. Also, Sony is hard on the heels of Canon when it comes to market share in interchangeable lens cameras. The goal for 2014 is to overtake Canon, at least in South Korea.
