Competition tightening up for high-end digital cameras
6/8/2003 17:53
Competition in China's digital camera market has been tightening up,
especially in the high-end sector of 3-million-pixel products, said a leading
Chinese industry consulting firm.
In the first half of this year, digital
camera sales in China have jumped by 87 percent from the same period of last
year to hit 385,000, according to the 2003 ICT market trend report released
yesterday by CCID Consulting Co Ltd.
The sales boom, sparking fierce price
competition, has resulted in an average 10-percent drop in prices. And the focus
of the competition has spread from the previous 2-million-pixel products to
those of 3 million pixels.
Dominance of overseas brands, such as Sony, Canon
and Olympus, in the high-end market has forced many domestic camera suppliers to
slash prices to seize more market share, particularly after China's lift of the
US$14 million import quota on camera products.
Though the lift has few
impacts on the supply volume of camera imports, dropping prices it bringing
about has squeezed the profit margin and development of domestic suppliers,
analyzed Huang Yong, senior president of CCID.
Last month, China's leading
digital camera manufacturers Legend and Found have chopped the prices of their
new 3-million-pixel products down to below 2,000 yuan (US$242).
Similar
products under overseas brands usually sell for about 4,000
yuan.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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