Canon Crank Up Digital Camera Market

At a gala Sydney function complete with models makeup artists and props including a pure white dog skis a London telephone box and snow Canon last night rolled out their new IXUS digital camera.

With 40 million IXUS camera’s already sold this new compact shooter sets a new standard for digital camera design and is set to keep Canon at the top of the market. Under attack from brands like Sony, Samsung and Panasonic, as well as their traditional photo market rival Nikon Canon has turned to design to give them a competitive edge.

The new range is sleek with very few protruding parts other than a very stylish click button which also incorporates a zoom slider.

The IXUS 80IS is an 8.0-megapixel CCD camera with 3 xs Optical Zoom Lens. It comes in blue, camel, pink, and brown or silver and includes in-camera red-eye correction as well as has face detection technology.

Stuart Poignant Marketing Manager at Canon said” The Canon design team has worked hard to deliver a truly outstanding compact camera. In today’s market design and functionality are critical and our new range which is being rolled out behind a $2M marketing campaign is one of the best in the market today”.

Facing a hostile market with new competitors like Samsung snapping at their heels Canon are wary of the battle ahead particularly as consumers are transitioning from compact camera’s to a new generation of digital SLR cameras.

He recently said “The CE brands are licking their lips at the opportunities and the potential profits from the digital still camera market. Right now Canon and Nikon have around 80% of this market and the CE Vendors are going to have to lift their brand credibility to compete in this market. In 2008 the market will grow at around 30% to around 150,000 units and what we are witnessing is consumer upgrading from a compact camera to a digital SLR. They want a better picture and more creative control”.

He added” Going forward the market is going to get competitive and other brands have either got to increase share or get out. Currently the mass retailers are selling 29% of DSLR camera’s the specialist 50% and the rest are the traditional CE channel”.
The new Canon IXUS 80IS sells for (RRP $379)