Japanese camera and printer maker Canon Inc forecast on Monday that sales of its digital cameras in Taiwan would increase 20 percent this year, thanks to increasing demand for single-lens products.
Canon, which competes mainly with Nikon Corp and Sony Corp in the camera market, reported revenue of NT$5.2 billion (US$175.8 million) in Taiwan last year, with 85 percent of the total generated by digital cameras.
Last year, the company led the industry in Taiwan with a 47 percent share of the digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) market and a 40 percent share of the market for bridge digital cameras, or SLR-like cameras.
“We hope to remain the top vendor in the two categories in 2012,” Jesse Su (蘇惠璋), senior director and general manager of Canon Taiwan’s consumer image and information division, said at a press conference.
He also expressed the hope that Canon’s revenue from digital camera sales “will grow 20 percent from last year.”
Taiwan’s total digital camera sales by volume rose 4.7 percent from 1.26 million units in 2010 to 1.32 million units last year, according to a survey released by Canon Taiwan.
Unit sales of DSLRs grew 18 percent year-on-year to 158,000 units last year, while SLR-like cameras surged 56 percent to 284,000 units, the survey showed.
Su forecast that Taiwan’s overall digital camera market would grow by between 3 percent and 5 percent this year.
Point-and-shoot cameras with prices under NT$5,000 and premium SLR-like cameras would remain the favorites in Taiwan, he said.
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