Digicams go soft

The trading statement from Jessops shows what I had been fearing for some time - the digital camera market has gone flat.

Like for like sales were actually down nearly 7% for the six weeks to 5th January. That's quite a fall - particularly given that digicams were according to many commentators the bright spot in a saturated consumer electronics market.

I suspect there are a number of factors at play. One was certainly general consumer malaise. And another, which has been widely picked up by the press, was the increasing availability of cameraphones. If you have a basic camera on your mobile, why buy a separate digicam?

However, that of course only affects the bottom end of the market. Nerds like me (still the proud owner of two Pentax K1000s) go for SLRs. Digital SLRs have now fallen out of the £5k a pop bracket and you can get the new Pentax DSLRs for under £400. (A definite plus, all K-mount lenses are compatible with the new range - Microsoft, read this and weep!)

But the big problem, I think, is that it's only the nerds who are buying the DSLRs. So the volume end of the market is getting savaged, while I suspect Jessops is having a very hard time shifting consumers up the range from compact 'point and shoot' to SLRs.

What's in the future? Well, it's intriguing that while DSLR prices for new models have come down, old models never seem to be discounted. I think we might well see a change in that pattern. And speaking personally, I rather hope so ... if I could get the Pentax *ist for £300 I'd be sorely tempted!