There’s a changing of the guard at the top of the camera market. Sony has reportedly become the #2 brand in overall digital camera sales behind Canon, dropping Nikon to #3.

Nikkei reports that Nikon is projected to have been overtaken by Sony in digital camera sales in the current fiscal year as Nikon gears up to report its first loss in its core Imaging Products business.

Sony had announced in 2018 that it is aiming to become the top camera brand in the world by 2021. It took a big step toward that goal earlier this year when it became the #2 brand in interchangeable-lens camera revenue, and it seems that Sony’s steady march has continued since then.

BCN Ranking reports that Sony’s system camera sales have continued to grow while Canon and Nikon are seeing year-over-year declines:

Sony is now also sitting at #1 in full-frame system cameras, having taken the lead from Canon over the past couple of years:

Nikon gave a glimpse of its current struggles in its recent financial report, revising its estimated Imaging revenue downward and stating that it would generate a loss instead of the profit that was previously forecast.

One of the biggest blunders by Nikon, both according to outside analysts and Nikon’s own financial results, was entering the full-frame mirrorless camera race too late. By the time the Z6 and Z7 were unveiled in August 2018, Sony already had a dominant stable of cameras and lenses drawing rave reviews from photographers.

Nikon is now undergoing a major restructuring effort with the goal of “[generating] enough profits to justify [Imaging Products’] existence as a business unit.”

(via Digicame-info and sonyalpharumors)