DSLR unit sales slip but prices hold up

The boom in DSLR camera sales has eased with unit sales showing a marked decline in August and September, according to latest figures compiled by GfK.

Unit sales of DSLR cameras slipped 1.4% in September to 10,969 compared to the previous year. This followed a 2.7% dip in August to 10,637 units.

In contrast, DSLR unit sales were up 2.3% in July to 13,210 compared to the previous year.

While unit sales have fallen, the average selling price and total sales value for September have shown healthy increases of 19% (to $1166) and 17.3% (to $12.7m) respectively. In August, the increases were 19% ($1170) and 15.8% ($12.4m) respectively.

Unit sales of compact digital cameras in September were down 10.6% to 154,956 (August 2009 down 19.1% to 137,098). Sales value of compacts in September was down 1% to $38.6 million while the average selling price was up 10.7% over 2008 to $249, compared to $257 in August.

Unit sales of camcorders in September were down 16.4% to 21,962 while sales value was down 17.9% to $14 million. Average selling price dropped 1.8% to $642, compared to $665 in August.