Today Sony issued a press release called “Sony overtakes #2 position in U.S. full-frame interchangeable lens camera market“. Without saying it directly, Sony basically claims to have pushed Nikon from the #2 spot in the US for that segment. This should not surprise anyone given the mess Nikon is currently in. Sony has achieved a huge success in the past few years and nobody is denying that, but you have to keep in mind that we are talking about a specific market (US) and about a specific segment (full-frame interchangeable lens cameras). If you check the three footnotes on the press release, you will find out that this data was accumulated in the US from January 2017 – February 2017.
Here is a list of full-frame interchangeable lens cameras announced by Sony and Nikon in the past 4 years:
Sony:
- 2016: 0
- 2015: 2 (7S II, 7R II)
- 2014: 2 (7 II, 7S)
- 2013: 2 (7 R, 7)
Nikon:
- 2016: 1 (D5)
- 2015: 1 (D810A)
- 2014: 3 (D750, D810, D4s)
- 2013: 2 (Df, D610)
Nikon has not announced anything “for the masses” since 2014. The D5 and the D810A are very specialized cameras.
And also – Sony has a very good marketing department:
