TOKYO - The once-mighty Sony is looking for salvation in digital cameras and other imaging products. But with the electronics market maturing and its business model losing effectiveness, the Japanese company faces a tough road to recovery.
At Foto Meyer, a camera shop in Berlin, customers are often seen carefully examining interchangeable-lens cameras and turning to shop clerks for advice. They are mostly interested in mirrorless cameras, which account for 60 per cent of the shop's sales, according to an employee there.
Mirrorless cameras are small, light and have an interchangeable lens that does not have a mirror reflex optical viewfinder. The first model was developed by Japan's Panasonic in 2008. Sony introduced its own version in 2010. But the cameras did not fare particularly well against single-lens reflex cameras. This was especially the case in the US and Europe.
But that has changed in a big way. According to one industry group estimate, Germany's mirrorless camera market is expected to grow about 150 per cent by volume in 2015 compared with 2012, while the US market is seen expanding 80 per cent. Much of this consumer "awakening" to the allure of mirrorless cameras has been attributed to Sony.
The arrival of a Sony mirrorless model with a full-frame image sensor had a big impact on the market, said Rainer Martin, president of Fotomax, a major German camera distributor.
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Source: Sony bets on mirrorless cameras for revival
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