Credit Suisse imaging analyst Yu Yoshida shared some quite extreme forecast about the future of the digital camera market (Source: Reuters/New York Times):
– Mirrorless cameras are not selling as well as expected because 1) buyers put connectivity above picture quality 2) in USA and Europe consumers tend to equate image quality with size and heft
– “Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fulfil that criteria,” said Credit Suisse analyst Yoshida.
– Consumers don’t want to connect cameras to phones, analysts say; they want a single interface that can instantly upload photographs to social networking sites such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc.
– For the analyst the real future could be the Sony QX lenscameras: Sony appears to have connected with consumers as demand soon outstripped production. Some are even using the lenses in a way Sony didn’t intend: placed at a distance while they press the shutter on their smartphone to take self-portraits, or selfies.
As usual take these analysts forecasts with care. The sometimes have the same reliability as Nostradamus predictions :)