Canon Claims Victory as #1 Mirrorless Brand in the U.S. for 3rd Straight Year

Canon #1

Canon has claimed victory again and says it was the number one mirrorless camera brand in the United States in 2023, its third straight year holding the position.

The company says it “solidified” the position of number one, though did not specify any sales numbers. PetaPixel readers may recall that in 2021, Canon actually said it was the number one “digital camera brand” in the United States, leading to a bit of a back and forth between it and Sony over who actually was number one. It turns out that close inspection did show that Canon was moving more units of mirrorless cameras while Sony was leading on total value.

Canon is coming out strongly this year though with the claim of number one in mirrorless, leaving far less uncertainty with its language. In the fine print, the company cites units sold (which is in line with the aforementioned 2021 data) that was monitored through the third party retail tracking service Circana. Canon further notes it used Circana for its data on 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Canon’s continued dominance when it comes to pure units sold may come as a surprise to some photographers who look at the company’s somewhat uneventful 2023. They have to go all the way back to February and May to see the company’s most recent cameras, the R8 and the R100, respectively. The R8 is excellent full-frame camera is a great choice for many amateur photographers, and the EOS R50, an APS-C camera built for beginner photographers. The R100, a compact APS-C camera with a true entry-level price under $500, was less so and, unfortunately, it missed the mark.

The last time Canon released a pro-oriented camera was in the R6, which debuted in late 2022. Outside of these entry-level bodies, Canon spend the majority of 2023 on lenses.

Still, Canon’s sales numbers clearly remained strong.

“The needs of our customers have always been at the forefront of our business at Canon and it’s why we have worked so hard to maintain a number one position within the industry,” Brian Mahar, senior vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group at Canon says.

“I am proud of our team for not only achieving this great success, but for also empowering our visual storytellers.”

The vast majority of 2024 remains ahead and with it being an Olympics year, many photographers expect big things from the market leader. Time will tell.


Image credits: Canon

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