DSLR camera sales March 2009 slightly down based on year-on-year growth

Digital SLR camera sales have been notably increasing year-on-year – until now. According to GfK Marketing Services, March 2009 saw 34,966 DSLR cameras sold, compared to 35,139 in the same period last year. Whilst this converts to a relatively small 0.4% drop, it is the first sign of sales plateauing. For some time there has been speculation about the imminent expectation of sales slowing. However, this isn’t due to the recession, but to consumers’ repurchasing cycles and that, when buying a DSLR, it’s unlikely that the product will be replaced inside a three year period. As more consumers invest in digital camera technologies, there is an ever-smaller market of new buyers.

So should manufacturers be quaking in their boots that, on top of recent diminishing profit margins, the sales slump is kicking in? It would seem not – March 2009 saw just over 2,500 additional camera units sold than the previous month, with the overall sales figure for 2009 expected to exceed 2008. Though by 2010 it could well be a different story…