Sony Corp kept its position last year as the leading supplier of digital cameras, holding off Canon Inc, according to market researcher IDC.
Sony had 18 percent of point-and-shoot digital camera shipments worldwide last year, according to IDC. Sony held its position by performing well in all regions, the researcher said.
Canon Inc overtook Olympus Corp to rank second, with 16 percent of the market.
"Despite strong efforts by Canon to become number one, Sony managed to triumph once again," said Christopher Chute, senior analyst at IDC's worldwide digital imaging group. "Sony was able to maintain its leadership not because of an obsession with being No. 1, but with performing well in all regions." All three leading suppliers are Tokyo-based.
Eastman Kodak Co of Rochester, New York, with 12 percent, became the fourth-biggest supplier, the first such ranking for a US company. It ranked fifth in 2002. Fuji Photo Film Co, whose share has declined in western Europe and the US, slipped to fifth position, with 11.6 percent share.
Shipments of point-and-shoot digital cameras worldwide by all companies rose 71 percent to 47.9 million units last year, from 28 million in 2002, according to IDC.
The point-and-shoot market dwarfs other markets for digital cameras. According to the Tokyo-based Camera and Imaging Products Association, the number of single lens reflex models, or cameras favored by professionals, shipped last year was 845,328 units.
The association says it covers between 80 percent and 90 percent of the worldwide digital market.
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