FF Mirrorless is the HOTTEST segment in the ILC market and Panasonic is well positioned to take on Sony.
FF market is the MINOR LEAGUE in camera business. It is the most hyped, but least sold.
The market share of the FF is about 10-15% between manufacturers compared to all other ILC they do. The clear #1 is the APS-C among Canon, Nikon and Sony.
Even Nikon sells more D3x00 cameras than Canon, Nikon and Sony does sell FF together. And talking about the amounts that Canon sells APS-C cameras? Hah.... Welcome to major league!
In the camera business, it is done on cheap APS-C cameras, exactly like a D3400 or 1300D and such.
FF is just like selling a Audi A9, BMW 8th series, Volvo S90 and so on. You don't sell those in masses, you sell everything else in expense of those.
FF is what you pay more for its name than for what you get.
Market share and volume sales is one factor. Another very important factor is the actual gross profit of each market space. So if this 10% volume generates the 80% of their camera gross profit then you can understand where they need to focus. Another important thing is that the consumers identity is changing...
When the FF market provides for Canon and Nikon only their 10-15% of the profits, they do not push forward there but keep APS-C out.
The FF is the luxury brand/image key. For every FF user, they get 8-9 APS-C buyers. They buy low cost / high profit APS-C cameras and 1-2 lenses (typically kit + 1 extra like 18-200mm) and then they are happy.
Have you noticed that in every consumer goods category, companies are focusing in the upper market? There is a reason behind:
Middle class is shrinking globally and now we have more reach, more poor people and less middle class consumers.
Yet they sell more of the low-end categories. That is where the money is made.
You don't be happy to sell 1x 6000€ body, when you can sell 15x 600€ bodies. Why? Because you have 15x more customers in the future with those APS-C buyers than you have with that one who buys the expensive body and few expensive lenses.
That one expensive customer is important, because that one is bringing more customers in future that will buy those cheap APS-C again.
It is a fantasy that 80-90% of now the camera buyers are in the FF market and everyone is jumping there as "there is the money". No, the money is in the low end.
If Canon, Nikon and Sony would stop APS-C sales, they would lose their profits in camera market at that moment. Just flat out die right out.
People see the twisted image that FF is the future, that it is the profits and sales. And that APS-C is like "give something for the poor people". While it is other way around, business is done in APS-C, and FF is "give something for those who have more money to spend". Because that is where the development is happening, and that knowledge and experience is then transferred to mainstream products where you make the money.
There are many reasons how business runs, but you can't go just for the top for richest people and stay there for decades. You can't be selling a 2000-6000€ cameras only, without any lenses!
Olympus knows this, their camera division profits comes from a two cameras, their PEN line and E-M10. Yet they keep developing and pushing more higher end, what means that they expands their categories to wider range, not shift it. They are not abandoning the PEN line or E-M10, as that is where the money is done. They only reach out to other category to take a part from there too.
