Canon leads, Joby is sold – Photo news of the week

Contents

The Japanese industry association CIPA is considered the most reliable source when it comes to market figures for the camera industry there. However, the monthly figures published by CIPA do not show sales figures for individual manufacturers, only for individual segments such as system cameras. Members of the association will probably receive more precise data, but even without this there is sometimes a little more insight.

Last week, for example, the renowned Japanese website DClife analyzed the latest "Nikkei Industry Map". This is a large-format book in which the publisher of the Nikkei business newspaper summarizes the key figures of the companies represented in the stock market index of the same name, the Nikkei, every year. And this includes the major Japanese camera manufacturers.

Canon sells more cameras than Sony and Nikon combined

The new Nikkei Map shows that Canon was by far the market leader in the Japanese camera industry in 2024. It sold 3.53 million devices, which represents a market share of over 43%. In second and third place are Sony with 2.33 million and Nikon with 960,000 cameras. Together, these two sold fewer devices in the previous year than Canon alone, with market shares of 28.5 and 11.7 percent respectively.

They are followed in order by Fujifilm, Panasonic, OM Digital and Ricoh, each with single-digit shares. This is a return to Canon's decades-long dominance, which was only briefly broken up around 10 years ago by Sony's early and strong shift towards mirrorless system cameras. And Nikon, which used to be the frequent runner-up, now has only half the market share of Sony.

Joby is sold to China

At least in the Japanese camera industry, with its traditional companies, there are usually no worries about takeovers – unlike in the accessories industry. In this sector, there is news that Joby, the manufacturers of the Gorillapods, have sold their brand. This was to the Chinese company VIJIM from Shenzen, which also offers photo accessories. In a brief mandatory stock exchange release (PDF), Joby merely states that it intends to concentrate on the professional market. There are no financial details, but the sale is intended to reduce the debts of Vivendum, the company that previously owned Joby.

Kaiser Fototechnik turns 80

Such a step is not to be expected too soon from one of the most renowned German accessory suppliers. We are talking about Kaiser Fototechnik, which celebrated its 80th birthday this week. In 1945, Erich Kaiser first founded the "EKA Workshop", which, as the company writes in a press release, produced everyday objects from "residual materials". In 1948, according to the company's official history, sun visors and magnifying frames, in other words: photographic accessories. Today, Kaiser is probably best known for its repro tripods and lighting systems. Kaiser now also sells other brands such as Fidlock and Artisan & Artist.

At this point, it would actually make sense to advertise our magazine focus "Made in Germany" again as a long read for Sunday evening. However, the link here is just a hint that the German photography industry has more to offer than you might think. Because there's hardly time for long texts tonight: the Fotonews columnist also has, shall we say, blood moon fever. After all, it's pretty rare for the moon to rise already darkened. So over the last few days, the old APS-C bodies – have been equipped with modern, fast telescopes due to the extended focal length –, and a few bracketing methods for the digital equivalent of multiple exposures have been tried out. If you weren't lucky with the weather, the next lunar eclipse visible in Germany will be at the end of 2028.

(nie)