July 6, 2006 – Nikon Corp. announced yesterday the camera manufacturing group beat estimates of DSLR sales with a 35 percent year-on-year increase in April and May, with Nikon’s D50, D70s, and D200 heading the DSLR sales.
“We sell as many as we can produce,” said Nikon Senior Managing Director Makoto Kimura to Reuters, about the high demand. Anticipating an increase of 30.6 percent growth, Kimura said 1.75 million Nikon DSLRs will be sold in this fiscal year.
As competitors Sony and Panasonic unveil their first DSLRs, Nikon’s Kimura said, “I consider both a threat…but for a long-term perspective of three to five years, we will have to watch very closely the kind of products they bring to market.” Kimura also told Reuters he expects competitors to reduce DSLR prices to as low as $300-$500 within the next two years.
With cameras making up half of its total revenue, Nikon is the world’s second largest manufacturer of DSLRs, following Canon, according to Reuters.
