2014 was a game of niches for the camera industry. The digital camera market isn't just past maturity, it's actually contracting. Most of the distress is or has already happened at the bottom with point-and-shoot devices, but the market contraction is being seen across the board. The exception to this is the mirrorless segment, but even that is a glass-half-full scenario, because it isn't necessarily a case of mirrorless cameras gaining market share on DSLR's (which they are) so much as DSLR unit volume is contracting whereas mirrorless unit volume is stagnant.
Hence the importance of niches. Markets are defined by products; a brand-new innovative product defines a market, but as that market grows and competition intensifies, the variations in products grows. Yes, that's right, product proliferation has a tendency to happen just about the same time that market saturation occurs; this is why its such a challenge to operate in a market that nears maturity. The alternative is to compete on price, which no competitor would prefer to do.
Note that is is essentially what is happening to the Apple iPhone. When it was first introduced, "iPhone" only meant one thing... the one phone that Apple offered. In 2014, the term can refer to the two variations of the phone (6 and 6s) or the previous versions (5s and 5c) that are still sold at the lower price points. This is also why the German luxury car manufactures (Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz) offer so many variations of their high-end vehicles.
Thus, the camera landscape in 2014: competitors pushing out increasingly niche-focused cameras, often with the effect of pushing up average selling prices. It's not an environment that is necessarily friendly to the price-conscious consumer, but it's a necessity for the cameras to survive until something re-invigorates the market. This also means that the choices for the higher-end consumer have never been better.
Hence the importance of niches. Markets are defined by products; a brand-new innovative product defines a market, but as that market grows and competition intensifies, the variations in products grows. Yes, that's right, product proliferation has a tendency to happen just about the same time that market saturation occurs; this is why its such a challenge to operate in a market that nears maturity. The alternative is to compete on price, which no competitor would prefer to do.
Note that is is essentially what is happening to the Apple iPhone. When it was first introduced, "iPhone" only meant one thing... the one phone that Apple offered. In 2014, the term can refer to the two variations of the phone (6 and 6s) or the previous versions (5s and 5c) that are still sold at the lower price points. This is also why the German luxury car manufactures (Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz) offer so many variations of their high-end vehicles.
Thus, the camera landscape in 2014: competitors pushing out increasingly niche-focused cameras, often with the effect of pushing up average selling prices. It's not an environment that is necessarily friendly to the price-conscious consumer, but it's a necessity for the cameras to survive until something re-invigorates the market. This also means that the choices for the higher-end consumer have never been better.
