Canon Destroys Nikon in DSLR Marketshare for 2010

S P wrote in post #12366516
Thom Hogan, who is a widely known and respected Nikon reviewer/analyst in the Nikon world, predicted a year or so ago that Nikon's DSLR marketshare might drop to something like 30% or less because they've been concentrating so heavily on their pro level gear which is lower volume, but actually higher margin.

Sounds like Nikon is taking a page out of Apple's playbook.

Windows destroys Apple in market share.

Nikon and Canon sells allot to pro, both have good sales. I do not think that all those saying pros are leaving canon like crazy is creditable. Look at a NFL or NBA game, white lens to black lens ratio.

Each has their pros, nikon did come out with a great 70-200 2.8 2 years back, then last year canon came out with the new 70-200 2.8 which matchs up well.

They have been saying nikon are taking more pros away form canon for years. And that is really not the case. Each system has it's merits.

But canon does get them in the beginning. So that helps with the semipro lines. And higher margin, I really doubt, as they sell less of those high end stuff. So it really does not make up the cost of RD and production. The volumes are not there.

It is the entry and semipro level that makes the money for the camera companies.

S P wrote in post #12366516
Thom Hogan, who is a widely known and respected Nikon reviewer/analyst in the Nikon world, predicted a year or so ago that Nikon's DSLR marketshare might drop to something like 30% or less because they've been concentrating so heavily on their pro level gear which is lower volume, but actually higher margin. There hasn't been any shortage of pros switching over from Canon systems to Nikon D700, D3's, and the D3s over the past 1-2 years over on the Nikon boards and elsewhere. In fact I think I'm just about the only person on the Internets who switched from Nikon to Canon last year. So I believe the numbers, but the real story is what's behind the numbers. Very strong sales of higher margin Nikon pro gear from lots of pros switching or starting new Nikon systems, but weaker consumer/amateur type sales.

With that in mind, the numbers suggest that Canon has really been kicking Nikon's butt in the consumer territory, and based on the product offerings I don't find that surprising either. Nikon's consumer level bodies are really a tough sell. They have almost no controls on the bodies making them slower to operate, their video capabilities are flat out inferior to Canon, and there are so many lenses in the Nikon system that are NOT compatible with those lower end Nikon bodies which makes your upgrade options quite limited. I know of more than a few people who started out with those lower end Nikon bodies, and upon realizing how screwed they were as far as upgrade options and how much they'd have to pay to get lenses that would actually AF on their bodies simply sold the kit off and switched to Canon instead. Nikon's lens prices are also typically considerably higher than the equivalent Canon glass. Anybody whose been to a zoo or any other highly touristy / bring-a-camera area typically reports seeing way more amateur level Canon bodies than Nikon. Canon's sales are also way stronger in Asia than Nikon too. Very cost prohibitive for Nikon to setup sales offices in smaller or emerging Asian countries when they really just sell cameras. Canon sells a whole ton of stuff so can justify being more aggressive based on being able to sell other Canon office products and gear.

So overall not too surprising. It also suggests that Nikon pro level bodies are really kicking butt and outselling the Canon pro level bodies at the moment, but tough to know for sure without raw numbers to look at. Timing is up in the air due to the Japanese earthquake, but Nikon had been due to release a D4, D800, and a D400 all within the next year or so, presumably around the same time Canon might finally get around to releasing a 1Ds4, a 5D3, and maybe a 1D5 not too long after that. So will be interesting to see how things might shift around in the next year. 2011 marketshare numbers are going to be irrelevant though, due to production issues. Nikon has especially been hit hard here because their Sendai plant which was damaged produces all of their full-frame pro bodies. Won't be able to get a good marketshare comparison that's really relevant again until 2012 I'd say, by which time all the 'new' stuff from both Canon and Nikon should be out.

S P wrote in post #12366516
So overall not too surprising. It also suggests that Nikon pro level bodies are really kicking butt and outselling the Canon pro level bodies at the moment, but tough to know for sure without raw numbers to look at.

It doesnt suggest any such thing and your whole post is pretty much hearsay.

S P wrote in post #12366516
...but tough to know for sure without raw numbers to look at...

Hence rendering everything you said into utter gibberish to be blunt

What exactly was the point of all that?

"McDonald's make a better hamburger because they sell more?" - House

Tony-S wrote in post #12366768
Sounds like Nikon is taking a page out of Apple's playbook.

Windows destroys Apple in market share.

Doesn't Apple destroy Microsoft in profit?

Yes, I think you get my point. Profit margin can trump market share.

Nikon's sub $1000 models really are lame compared to Canon's. I really like what Nikon is doing in the higher end models, but for those starting out with an entry level body, there is no comparison.

Personally, I think Sony has the best entry level kit and they have some nice new cheap primes. But then they have the opposite problem of nothing high end (At least body wise, they have some nice Zeiss glass).

rocket88 wrote in post #12389582
Doesn't Apple destroy Microsoft in profit?

The past couple years since the Iphone came out, yes. Market share is more about your last 10 years than your last 2.

Weird....I went into a local Best Buy and they only carried Nikon DSLRs and lenses. There were no Canon DSLRs at all.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #12395518
Weird....I went into a local Best Buy and they only carried Nikon DSLRs and lenses. There were no Canon DSLRs at all.

Strange. I was in a Best Buy by me and they had both Nikon & Canon. Our Walmart has Canon & Nikon as well. Just the beginner models. The Best Buy had a 7D with the 24-105 lens on it. I played around with it and was floored by the shutter speed.

Canon rumors, seriously...

Nikon's yearly financial report is in, and despite getting "destroyed" in market share by Canon and not even having 30% of the market Nikon has brought in record profits.

http://www.businesswee​k.com …ecasting-profit-rise.html

No they don't sell a lot of that high-end pro gear in the grand scheme of things, but I really don't think it costs them 10x more to build and sell a D3s vs a D3100. There's definitely a whole lot more profit per unit on the high-end gear, and it seems to be working for them at the moment.

went canon myself because the refurb t2i was cheaper then the nikon competing model for less money.. throw on an aftermarket battery extender and it works great and feels good in the hands.

Good competition is important, hopefully they both innovate to keep their market shares fairly similar. The last thing we want is one of them to gain an advantage over the other by a huge margin overall.

As others have said, just because someone sells more, doesn't make them better. I'd say the best deal of them all would be some of the sony models with image stabilization built into the camera. I had contemplated going that route as a camera newbie.. but I didn't. I wanted a real viewfinder, not an optical one.