2006 Digital Camera Sales To Rise 17 Pct
By Geoff Duncan
March 07, 2006
The NPD Group forecasts 2006 sales of digital cameras in the U.S. will reach nearly 30 million units and $6.8 billion in revenue.
The NPD Group, a leading market research firm, is forecasting the market for digital cameras in the United States will reach a record-breaking 29.5 million units during 2006, accounting for almost $6.8 billion in revenue. The predicted figures would represent an eight percent increase in revenue and a 17 percent increase in unit sales compared to 2005. The findings are published in NPD's Market Outlook report.
According to the report, point-and-shoot digital cameras accounted for 73 percent of the 2005 digital camera market in terms of revenue, and are expected to generate $5 billion in revenue during 2005, while simultaneously unit sales of point-and-shoot digicams are expected to surpass 27 million units during 2006, a 16 percent increase over 2005. The higher-end digital SLR segment of the market is smaller, but NPD is still expecting growth during 2006. According to NPD digital SLR sales in the United States should reach $1.7 billion (a seven percent increase over 2005) with unit sales growing 54 percent to $1.8 billion.
Looking further ahead, NPD expects sales of point-and-shoot digital cameras to peak in 2007, but the point-and-shoot format should still be the dominant digital camera technology, accounting for over 70 percent of the market revenue (and over 90 percent of unit sales) through 2008, with a dip under 70 percent of market revenue in 2009 and 2010. NPD expects the average price of point-and-shoot digital cameras to decline roughly 7 percent in 2006 to $182, but to stay close to that price point all the way through 2010.
The future market for digital SLRs in the U.S. looks a little less static: according to NPD, digital SLRs should account for 11 percent of unit sales by 2010 and just over one-third of the market's total revenue. Average sale prices of digital SLRs will continue to decline through 2010, dropping almost 30 percent to $942 in 2006 alone, then declining to around $737 by 2010.