Panasonic hopes to capture 15% of digital photo camera market

Company officials said 2010 would be a difficult year that could see the market stagnating. “After 21% decline in digital photo camera market, we expect sales to be much as last year in this segment”, said Bogdan Gheorghiu, marketing manager at Panasonic Romania.

He added that consumer behavior has suffered changes, as they gave up acquisitions, while DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) sales have risen.

In the first quarter, the market grew 21% in terms of units sold, but the value increased by 1%, which means the DLSR segment has enjoyed a considerable success, said Bogdan Gheorghiu. He estimates DSLR photo cameras will account for 5% of total digital photo camera market.

“So far, I’ve seen that budget range products and DSLR cameras were best-sellers, and I think the latter will grow by 5-10%”, said Gheorghiu.

If for the photo camera market, Panasonic Romania aims at 15% market share, for the video segment the manufacturer expects a market share of 25%. Bogdan Gheorghiu said the photo-video segment is the second most important revenue source, after TV.

The manufacturer aims at selling 1,000 3D TV this year, correspondent to a 30% share, considering the 3,000 units projection for this year.

Although the electronics market dropped 37% in 2009, and is likely to remain in this range this year, Panasonic says it will defend its leading position in the plasma televisions segment.

Panasonic unveiled in Romania the latest additions to the Lumix lineup, and extended its video camera range with high-definition recording. The price for a photo camera starts from 1,499 lei and can reach up to 3,599 lei.