China’s DJI, Insta360 tighten grip on global smart camera market with supply chain edge
Insta360 posted the strongest growth among major vendors with a 66 per cent year-on-year surge to 900,000 units in the first quarter
Growing demand for pocket-sized imaging gadgets has allowed DJI and Insta360 to tighten their grip on the global smart camera market, with the two Chinese brands accounting for nearly 90 per cent of total shipments as they squeeze out US pioneer GoPro.
Worldwide shipments of handheld smart cameras – defined by IDC as consumer-grade portable devices with onboard computing, stabilisation, and 2K-or-higher resolution – reached 4.14 million units in the first quarter, according to the market consultancy.
Sales in the quarter rose 20 per cent year on year to more than 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion), IDC said.
The sector spans gear ranging from action cameras like GoPro’s Hero series to pocket gimbals like DJI’s Pocket line and panoramic shooters like Insta360’s X series.
Driven by this diverse consumer demand, global annual shipments were forecast to surpass 40 million units by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of nearly 18 per cent over the next five years, IDC said.
Global consumer preferences are overwhelmingly leaning towards the two Chinese brands, which held a combined 87 per cent market share in the first quarter.
