Not long ago, we reported that mirrorless cameras were losing ground to DSLRs again, with sales figures decreasing for the first time in 2013. Earlier this year, however, Fujifilm reported that sales had increased again, thanks in part to the success of the X-T1 camera, and also Olympus was doing great with the E-M1 despite analysts predicting the company’s demise. Now the Amateur Photographer reports that finally, mirrorless camera sales were rising again in the first quarter of 2014.
And the good news here is that even in the western world, where mirrorless cameras traditionally have a hard time competing with DSLRs, their sales figures have improved in January and Februar 2014, as compared to the same time span a year ago. According to figures published by CIPA, global shipents of mirrorless cameras rose 24.4%, with a 26% rise in Europe. Unfortunately, sales continued to decline in the Americas, at a rate of 34.2%.
At the same time, global SLR shipments reportedly dropped by 15.7%. The general trend is still negative, though, despite the increase in mirrorless camera sales: on a global scale, overall digital camera sales dropped by 34.5%. It will be interesting to see how these figures develop in the coming months; we’ll let you know when CIPA releases new data.
