As we enter 2020, let us look back at the year that just preceded it. For our industry, 2019 has indeed been a challenging year. Compact camera sales continued to fall, D-SLR sales faced new challenges and the mirrorless market, although growing, was not growing fast enough to arrest the decline in compact and D-SLR camera sales. Interestingly, smartphone sales also plateaued for the lead players. This was inevitably followed by a decline in operating profit. Industry giant Canon reported an 81-percent decline in profit for the first quarter of 2019. Likewise, Nikon reported a 71-percent plunge in earnings in the first quarter of 2019.
Let’s however look also at the brighter side. Full frame mirrorless cornered all the news and looking at just two cameras ─ the Sony Alpha 7R IV and the Fujifilm GFX 100 ─ 2019 was a good year for camera innovation. Panasonic’s Lumix S1H came just in time to retain the crown for full frame mirrorless cum video. Olympus completed a century in business and Fujifilm 85 years. Nearer home, Indian ace photographer Raghu Rai won the William Klein Academie des Beaux Arts Photography Award.
So, its goodbye to 2019 and welcome 2020. We are positive that it will be a more exciting year.
Best wishes, everyone!
H. S. Billimoria
