Compact camera sales plummet 11% in one year

Compact cameras with less powerful zooms have taken the biggest hit. Units sales of fixed-lens digital compacts, with a zoom of less than 10x, fell 21% for the year to May 2012, according to figures released by GfK Retail and Technology UK.

Total fixed-lens camera sales, including bridge models, dropped to 4.6 million from June 2011-May 2012 – down from 5.2m the previous year.

Compact cameras featuring a zoom of under 10x account for nearly three-quarters of the entire fixed-lens market in the UK, in terms of sales volume.

As reported last week, consumers snapped up 50% more cameras with a zoom of 10x or higher (excluding bridge models). More than 800,000 cameras in this category were sold over the 12 months.

Nearly 400,000 bridge cameras were sold in the year to May 2012.