2008 DSLR Sales Results in Japan

Japanese market statistics and information website, the bcnranking.jp, has published a report of the annual sales results and figures of different "popular" (20 top-selling) DSLR models, in the percentage of market share per total number of units sold, throughout the period of 2008-1-1 to 2008-12-21, in the Japanese home market:-

http://bcnranking.jp/news/0812/081228_12821.html
( in Japanese, another report by other on the news in English can be found here)

With some simple additions, the following more meaningful data are obtained:-

Ranking No.	Maker	Number of DSLR Model(s) on List	Market Share
1	Nikon	7	39%
2	Canon	5	38%
3	Sony	3	8.5%
4	Olympus	3	3.8%
5	Pentax	1	1.6%
6	Panasonic	1	1.4%
		Total:	92.3%
		Remaining:	7.7%
		Whole Market:	100%

And, the facts revealed are:-

1. Nikon is the overall winner here. They have attained the highest market share percentage and the numbers of popular models;

2. However, Canon has got a super popular model, the Kiss X2 (aka the 450D), which has a market share nearly doubles that of the second ranked model, the Nikon D60. The overall Canon market share is not low neither, it is only just 1% less than Nikon's;

3. Sony is the third player behind, no doubt and it is clear cut there. But it is still *far* lagging behind!

4. With the 4/3 system, a small (and actually much smaller) DSLR sensor form factor, Olympus have once again lost the game, with only 3.8% of the total market share sought;

5. Pentax has come in the fifth place, with only 1 model and a 1.6% share of the whole market. That only model is the K200D, a model that was marketed in early 2008;

6. Pana has come very close to Pentax with their G1, which is a relatively newer DSLR model with an almost brand new system (lens format) than most others;

7. There are only 7.7% market share left for DSLR models beyond the "Top 20" range. There is no 135 Full Frame model listed except the Nikon D700 (which is actually just the 20th model), nor, there is any other "minor" players like Fujifilm, Samsung, Leica and Sigma could get themselves appeared;

8. As for the other Pentax DSLR models in 2008, i.e., the K20D and the K-m (which are still the current models as well), they are not on the list.

Well, if we look at the above results concerning more on Pentax, 2008 is actually a lean year for them and their above sales results are indeed rather pathetic. Pentax used to get better results at the Japanese home market than elsewhere overseas but now the worst thing has happened in 2008 - Pentax (Hoya actually) has even been unable to keep a good tradition which has actually been maintained for long by the old Pentax. With such truly pathetic sales on the latest bodies, how can the sales of the Pentax DSLR *system* (lenses and accessories etc.) be supported? Really Very Sad.