MB - I'd say that was probably not this, but we are talking about Japan here, so it very well may be the cause.

I'm a bit curious about the Sony's not having video, because I know Sony has the know-how to pull that off. My only guess is that they don't want to cannibalize their video camera business. That ship has already sailed IMO.

Truthfully though, I think the low market share is simply a reflection of the fact that there isn't much compelling about Sony cameras outside of their big MP ratings. Every time I pick one up at the store it just feels kind of cheap.

They also aren't doing much to Market themselves. I don't think I've ever seen a Sony SLR commercial or even print advertisement.

I'm a bit surprised about those numbers. I was in Japan last June and I clearly noticed a pattern: Japanese were mostly carrying Nikons, foreigners were carrying mostly Canons. After that, I fell happy about choosing Nikon...

Sony lacks video and it seams no video no market share...

LOL.. I was just posting on this in a different forum.

Sony must really be loosing a lot of money on their camera division. They are far and away the cheapest out there and they still can't gain market share.

Nikon has made up some serious ground. Yes the marketshare dipped a bit this year, but that can be explained by the product cycles.

I expect another surge in 2010.

Wow, that's a pretty big gap. From what I understand, Japanese people have a very big appetite for electronics and seem to always want the latest and greatest. They also seem to be quite enthusiastic for weird formats, like laserdisc and film.

Cool people, the Japanese. :D

We see Nikon is loosing ground a bit ...
Two reasons come to my mind, no EVIL and dependence on Sony for sensors.
If they made 14 or more Mpix full HD D3s and D300s cameras instead of current 12Mpix models the figures would be much better I am sure.

interesting that it was THAT skewed in Canon's favor back in 2006. . . .Nikon had a great lineup then. . .

The 2008 stat is purely reflective of the D3/D300 combo. . .and I suspect when the D4/D400 combo comes out, the market share will be more 35%-35%. . . .

amazing comeback for Nikon. . .makes me wish I would've bought more lenses then when they had rebates on some of the primes/zooms I would love to own now (105/135/180/80-200). . .could've been had cheap, but Nikon needed to "entice" the market. . .

SONY dlsrs suck big time and we have a proof here once again, as for Pany the G1 is marked as discontinued so I'm so eager too see what they will show us in the near future, as I'm in market for a small camera this year. Anyway, grats to Panasonic

Foto Actualidad website is reporting market share figures in Japan for 2010. Based on Japanese BNCranking numbers for 2009 sales figures.

2010
1st. canon 39.10%
2nd. Nikon 31.30%
3rd. Panasonic!? 8.70%

Pany overtakes SONY! for third place! If you need anymore proof how crappy Sony's DSLR line up is, there it is. Panasonic struck gold with the GF,G/H1 cameras.

Previous years were

2009
canon 40.10%
Nikon 39.90%
Sony 9.20%

2008
canon 43.80%
Nikon 40.00%
Pentax 5.80%

Before you start saying that Nikon is losing to canon check these figures from 2006!

canon 52.10%
Nikon 29.30%
Pentax 7.30%

I say Nikon is doing well against canon compared to how they were doing in 2006. The D3,D300,D700 and D90 gave Nikon some strong numbers in 2007/08. But I think "S" model updates have hurt them in 2009. Amazing that Panasonic leap frog so many with their EVIL cameras.