Canon Releases First Quarter 2025 Financial Results (canonrumors.com)
As for the interchangeable-lens camera market, in addition to sales promotion that started last year, among the younger generation, for whom smartphones are the norm, there is a growing need for cameras that allow them to enjoy taking photos and videos that are different from others.
As a result, the market is expected to grow to around 6.6 million units in 2025.
In the first quarter, in addition to increasing sales of full-frame cameras, especially the EOS R5 Mark II that was launched in the second half of last year, strong demand for entry-class cameras, which are popular among young people as a step up from smartphones, resulted in a significant increase in sales of 15.5%
This is interesting from a “future of photography” point of view, maybe even a “survival of photography as a craft” point of view.
Canon sees an ironic twist in the saga of smartphones killing interchangeable-lens cameras (DSLRs, Mirrorless) – a desire to have photos that are different from those of everyone else (i.e., smartphone photos) is actually increasing demand for interchangeable-lens cameras. And the company’s 2025 Q1 financial results back this up with actual data. Smartphones aren’t killing higher-end cameras. To the contrary, the omnipresent nature of smartphones is actually fueling growth in entry level full frame models. It’s not far-fetched to think that this will, eventually, lead to growth in higher end models as some of the new folks buying entry level models move on to bigger and better models, adding lenses that fit all models along the way.
Photography is not dying; it’s actually thriving and seeing a new generation of hobbyists and professionals enter the craft. They may have new reasons for showing up, with new and different goals, but that’s an evolution of the art and craft that everyone in the field should welcome. I do.
I wonder if the fear about AI killing photography will be turned on its head, too, in time.