Why do you not see more m4/3?

According to CIPA records, there were over a billion digital cameras shipped since they started keeping records in 1999. You can add over another billion smartphones to that. So this means there are at least 2 billion digital imaging devices somewhere out there. And every one of them might be the camera that a tourist chooses to use.

Of this 2 billion, only around 11.4 million were MILC cameras, this being a relatively new format for photography. But remember, only around 40% of that 11.4 million are M4/3 cameras.

So... exactly what are your odds of seeing someone actually using a M4/3 camera in a public place?

Mathematically, your odds of seeing a M4/3 camera being used in the wild are exactly two tenths of 1%, or 1 in 500. Give or take, depending on where you are.

Even in new gadget friendly places like Japan and South Korea I doubt it would even approach 5%, or 1 in 20.

However, the odds are even lower for seeing a medium format or rangefinder camera being used in public. Or of actually seeing someone driving a Rolls Royce or Bentley. This doesn't make these products failures, it just means they have smaller market penetration.

And even the odds for seeing a particular brand DSLR being used are pretty rare. Only 111 million DSLRs were ever produced. Sure, you see a lot of them at the NFL sidelines, but at that same game 20,000 fans are taking photos with cell phones and other compact cameras, while a few dozen pros are shooting from the sidelines with their DSLRs.

Do the math.

In reality today... whenever you see people taking photos in public, around 90% of the time they are using cell phones.