Compact cameras stage a comeback against smartphones with 29.6% growth

For a long time, many indicators suggested that smartphones were on track to almost completely replace compact cameras. Whilst 29.6 million compact cameras were sold in 2014, annual sales had fallen to just 1.7 million units by 2023. According to the latest data from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), this trend now seems to be reversing, with the camera market once again growing over the past two years.

CIPA’s figures show that 2.3 million compact cameras were sold in 2025 – a 29.6% increase over the previous year – whereas the smartphone market grew by only 2% in the same period. Moreover, 6.1 million mirrorless cameras and 0.69 million DSLR cameras were sold in 2025. The latter’s decline is unsurprising because former DSLR heavyweights Canon and Nikon have spent years prioritising mirrorless systems, such as the Nikon Z6 III (starting at $2,097 on Amazon). Even so, the overall camera sales of 9.44 million in 2025 still pale in comparison to the 121 million units shipped during the market’s boom year of 2010.

In 2025, shipments of full-frame cameras rose by 1.9% year-on-year, whilst interchangeable-lens cameras with smaller sensors recorded an 8.4% increase. Europe ranked as the third-largest market with 2.11 million sales, just behind China (2.26 million) and the US (2.34 million). Sales figures rose across all regions. Global camera sales hadn't experienced two consecutive years of growth since 2007, though it remains uncertain whether this trend will carry into 2026 given the challenging economic climate and the ongoing DRAM crisis.