Japanese domestic shipment volume of video cameras decreased 5.3% annually in 2004 to 1.6 million units, the first fall in three years. One of the reasons for this decrease is the declining replacement demand for digital models among analog users. Furthermore, the heat wave in the summer of 2004 and the Olympic Games caused consumer demand to focus on air-conditioners and flat-panel televisions.

 

Looking at product mix, digital video cameras accounted for 80% of the shipment volume, whereas analog models saw their share drop to 1%. Cameras recording on HDDs and DVDs had a share of approximately 20%.

 

Sony maintained the top position in volume share, although the company experienced a slight drop to 38% of the total volume, which was mainly due to increased competition for models with a price of about 100,000 Yen. Matsushita increased its volume share to 26.6% as sales of small cameras using advanced image stabilizers saw strong growth. Canon took over Victor as the third largest maker, while Sharp's share remained at 9.1%.  

 

 

Japanese Video Camera Domestic Shipment Share Ranking, 2004
Rank	Company	2004 Volume Share	Annual Growth of Share (Perc. Points)
1	Sony	38.0%	-0.3
2	Matsushita Electric	26.6%	1.4
3	Canon	13.0%	2.3
4	Victor	12.0%	-4.5
5	Sharp	9.1%	0.0
Source: JEITA; compiled by MIC, August 2005