If you’ve recently been shopping for a new camera you’ve probably noticed how few new models of compact cameras there are in the stores these days.
Well, there’s a reason for that: The proliferation of smart phones with high-quality cameras has virtually killed the demand for compact cameras.
And it’s easy to understand why. After all, there’s really no reason to bother with carrying a small camera around when you already have a great one inside your phone!
This huge drop in demand has of course been noticed by the camera manufacturers, prompting them to severely cut back on the number of small cameras they’re producing.
As you might recall, Kodak (the company that actually invented the camera) completely exited the camera business several years ago, and that trend is now beginning to accelerate.
For example, Nikon announced the closure of one of their factories in China last year due to the massive reduction in demand for compact cameras and Samsung has stopped manufacturing stand-alone cameras altogether.
The DSLR/removable lens market seems to be largely avoiding the downturn for the time being, but I expect sales of those higher-end cameras to start dropping off as well in the future as the cameras in phones become ever more powerful.
Bottom line: If you’re thinking about buying a compact camera you might want to pick one up ASAP because it appears they’ll be going the way of the dinosaur in the not-so-distant future.
As of right now Walmart, Best Buy and other local retailers still have a limited number of compact cameras in stock. And as you would expect, Amazon has a good selection (#ad) at the moment as well. I don’t expect that to last too long however.
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