Newsline International Press Release 17/02/04

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., USA; Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan; and Canon Inc., Tokyo, Japan; were the companies leading digital-camera sales in the fourth quarter—a period that saw explosive sales growth and widespread acceptance of filmless photography by average shutterbugs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Total U.S. shipments of digital still cameras soared to 7.5 million units in the period, an 85 percent gain from a year earlier, according to market researcher International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass., USA.

For the year, market researcher NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y., USA, estimated digital-camera sales grew 29 percent to $3.6 billion in the United States, excluding Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which doesn’t participate in the survey. Worldwide rankings for the year aren’t available.

Kodak, with strong sales of its EasyShare cameras, gained eight points of market share to become the No. 2 shipper of digital cameras in the United States in the quarter with 20 percent, trailing Japan’s Sony Corp. at 22 percent. Japan’s Canon gained four points of share and moved up to the No. 3 ranking, at 16 percent. Kodak and Canon moved past the previous No. 2, Olympus Corp., which slipped to No. 4 with a 10 percent share, said the article.