Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, was interviewed by Dpreview. And he made an observation that is very important and where I think so many companies are doing a mistake: Neglecting the low-end market and focusing too much on the ‘technology’ of the camera instead of the ‘experience’. So let’s see what he said:
Yamaki is worried about the future of the market:
It looks like the trend of the shrinking market has hit the bottom. For the time being, many photographers are now switching from DSLR to mirrorless, which will sustain the market. However, after they switch to mirrorless cameras, I worry that the market could shrink in the coming years.
One reason for my concern is the increasing average price of cameras and lenses. I truly appreciate the passion of the customers who are still spending so much money on cameras and lenses. However, I’m afraid that not so many customers can afford such high-priced cameras and lenses, so we’re still trying hard to keep the retail price reasonable.
Especially these days, the younger generation takes huge amounts of photos with smartphones. While we can expect some of them to switch from a smartphone to a camera, many may find the price gap too wide, and challenging to make the switch.
And I think he is right on how companies should think when making new cameras that can generate sales:
We’ve seen some cameras with very technically impressive specifications, but I worry that they’re not always capabilities that many photographers really need. Moving forward, I speculate that more user-friendly specifications might mean more to customers. Easier to use interfaces, a compact and lightweight body for enhanced portability, or some other specifications might be more important.
The younger generation bought compact fixed-lens cameras that don’t cost TOO much: cameras like the Ricoh GR, old digital cameras and so on. They don’t care if the sensor is small or big, if it has a 5 or 7-stop IBIS… they care that the cameras are fun, affordable and easy to use. I do believe cameras like the PEN-FII and the Lumix GM/GF series should be developed further and made so that they are easy and fun to use for the new generation of photographers
