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Sony has overtaken Canon and Nikon to claim the top slot for full-frame camera market share in Japan, according to BCN Ranking. Sony showed growth in the overall full-frame, APS-C and fixed-lens digital camera categories from November 2018 to October 2019, as well.
Ultimately, Sony saw its total full-frame camera market share in Japan increase from 31.6% to 38%, while Canon was bumped down to second place at 36% market share compared to last year's 37.8%. Nikon came in at 24% of the full-frame market, a decrease from last year's 29.1%.
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As the figure below shows, Sony dominated both unit sales (dark blue) and total value sales (light blue) across all three camera categories. Canon and Nikon were down across the board with the exception of a slight 6.6% full-frame unit sales increase from Canon over the past year.
Nikon saw the most severe decreases in unit and value sales across the board, experiencing more than a 30% drop in value sales in the APS-C market, among other things. In comparison, Sony experienced a more than 44% increase in value sales in the same category over the past year.
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BCN notes full-frame mirrorless and DSLR sales comprise of just 10% of the overall camera market, which is largely dominated by APS-C mirrorless and DSLR cameras.
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The company also notes that Canon and Nikon's slow move into the full-frame mirrorless market has given Sony a headstart; only time will tell whether the company manages to hold its lead as competition heats up.
In 2018, Sony stated intentions of becoming the 'top brand in the overall camera market,' a goal it has made considerable progress in achieving. As DPReview reported in May, Sony took the #2 spot from Nikon in the interchangeable lens camera market last year with 23% of the market share (based on revenue).
Sony said at the time that it had claimed 24% of the overall global still camera market in its fiscal year 2018, an increase of 4% compared to its global market share in 2017. Meanwhile, Nikon's struggles were reflected in its most recent quarterly financial report; the company revised down its Imaging Products revenue outlook for the fiscal year ending in March 2020 due to shrinking sales.