Canon is betting on special occasions to maintain the market share for Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera (DSLR) cameras in Kenya, at a time that smartphones are increasingly taking over the photography market.
The allure to flaunt out big cameras, which years ago were a status symbol to show off, has disappeared and consumers have now moved to mobile.
This has seen the sales of the cameras record a drop in a majority of the markets and in a monumental shift, smartphones have taken center stage and are reshaping the landscape of the photography industry.
As cutting-edge technology continues to evolve, these pocket-sized devices are rendering traditional digital cameras obsolete and democratising the art of photography.
Canon however maintains that despite a drop in the sales of the DLSR cameras in Kenya, the market share is still significant.
Canon Central and North Africa Managing Director Somesh Adukia, told the Star that the drop in the sales of DSLR cameras hasn’t had a great impact on the firms’ operations having grown 20 percent year on year.
“The digital still camera business is coming down, and we are also witnessing an increase in the number of pictures taken by smartphones. On the DSLR we are still performing well we command over 80 percent market share in Kenya and EA in general,” said Somesh Adukia., managing director of Canon Central and North Africa.
The leading DSLR camera manufacturers, Canon and Nikon, have had to slow down the release of new DSLR cameras and instead, all of their energy is geared toward mirrorless cameras and lenses.
The MD maintained that going forward, they are diversifying and trying to focus on different customer segments in Kenya, with a focus on tourists and people who are visiting tourism sites.
While acknowledging the impact smartphones have had in the industry, he noted that at the moment, they don’t consider smartphone as competition
“The way the size of the smartphone is shrinking you cannot have high quality lenses this means the quality of the pictures is not the same. We are looking at special occasions that come once in a lifetime that you will require the best memories,” added Adukia.
Emerging communities are now increasingly shaping the market as Canon revealed that they will be targeting specialised segments like the Vloggers in new product releases.
