The estimated growth of compact system cameras for the coming year, are conservative, according to a spokesperson for Sony UK, who believes that the market still has a lot more room to grow.
Speaking to TechRadar, Paul Genge said, "We foresee the market growth continuing in this category, our expectation is that next year 30% of the UK's interchangeable lens business will come from compact system cameras, and that is only looking towards the existing manufacturers in the market."
Genge said that figures he had access to show that the CSC share was currently around 25%.
Sony introduced its first mirrorless cameras back in 2010, with the NEX-5. It's most recent introduction, the high-end Sony NEX-7 has faced production delays due to the flooding in Thailand, where the camera is manufactured.
Problems
"That took us out of the market in the peak selling period [Christmas], so that means that this year's figures are difficult to quantify, to talk about what could have been potentially possible, but now it has hit the stores, the response is absolutely fantastic.
"I think the 30% share next year is conservative. Our value share has increased significantly - obviously the NEX-7 is a premium product which helps the value share grow rapidly, but the volume share also shows big growth."
Users
Genge also said that he believed there are two distinct user groups interested in CSCs, those looking for a complementary camera to their DSLT (or Sony DSLT) camera, and those looking to trade up from a compact.
"We have to satisfy both, fortunately, we have got a range of three models which allow us to do that and appeal competitively in both areas.
"I think the market will continue to grow in those two areas, there's a lot yet still to be achieved in this field, in this category that's still in its infancy - so it's all good news."
