Nikon Takes First in Japanese DLSR Market

January 31, 2007 – Nikon was the number selling one DSLR manufacturer in Japan during the month of December, according to Photo Marketing Association. Nikon possessed nearly half of the DSLR market that month, with best sellers including the D80 and D40.

The Nikon D80, which hit the market in September, made up 16.3 percent of the Japanese DSLR market. The Nikon D40 had a 15.5 percent share, and the D200 took 9.1 percent, for a total of 40 percent Nikon market share, according to PMA.

Despite Nikon’s overall performance, the bestseller camera in December was the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, winning 27.3 percent of the market. Following Nikon, Canon had 35 percent of the DSLR market, followed by Pentax with one-tenth, and then Sony with 6 percent.

Camera manufacturers will be announcing this week their quarterly results for the months of October to December.