Fujifilm shoves Nikon out of the camera market's top three

New Nikkei Industry Map data shows Fujifilm has overtaken Nikon to become Japan's third-biggest camera shipper, ending Nikon's seven-year run in the position.

Fujifilm is on something of a roll at the moment. The launch of its eagerly-awaited Fujifilm X-T6 may have been delayed from next week to indefinitely (and more on that soon), but the latest data from Japan shows it has muscled ahead of Nikon to ship the third most cameras of the powerhouse Japanese manufacturers.

We know this because one of the gold standards of industry analysis has just been published, the Nikkei Industry Map 2027. Japan's largest financial newspaper produces an annual report on publicly traded companies by industry sector, and, as reported by Digital Camera Life, 2025’s analysis of the camera industry is rather revealing.

A quick caveat. Non-Japanese brands such as Leica or Hasselblad are obviously not featured. Less obviously, Sigma doesn’t feature as it remains privately held.

Overall growth

For an industry that feels like it has been on the back foot for so long, the pleasing story is one of overall growth.

Canon remains at the top of the pile, and actually extended its market share by shipments from 43.2% to 45.7%, with unit sales jumping from 3.53 million to 4.5 million. That is an impressive increase of nearly a million more cameras sold in a single year, especially given the impact that US tariffs will have had on the overall market.

Sony held its number two spot for what is now a seventh consecutive year, with units edging up from 2.33 million to 2.42 million. It’s worth pointing out that its share actually slipped in the period from 28.5% to 24.6%.

Then comes the reshuffle. Nikon's unit sales fell from 960,000 to 880,000, an 80,000-camera drop that took its market share from 11.7% down to 8.9%. This is the first time that the company has placed outside the top three since 2019, when Sony's Alpha series first pushed it out of second place.

The reason this time is Fujifilm. The company's unit sales very nearly doubled, from 740,000 to 1.16 million, lifting its share from 9% to 11.8%. Much of that growth traces back to the X100VI, which kicked off the company’s upward trajectory when it was released two years ago and remains difficult to find.

Further down the table, Panasonic held steady at fifth but grew sharply, from 280,000 to 430,000 units (as DC Life points out, the company now says LUMIX market share in the European full-frame market is 10% and the kit sales share is 17%).

Ricoh actually posted the biggest percentage gain of anyone, tripling its shipments to 210,000 units (a jump from 0.8% to 2.1% share) likely on the back of the Ricoh GR IV, and moved up from seventh to sixth. OM System took Ricoh's old seventh-place spot, dipping slightly from 160,000 to 150,000 units.

What will 2026’s figures show?

The question quickly turns to what can we expect this time next year when the full 2026 figures are revealed? Will Fujifilm have maintained its momentum and be challenging Sony for second place? Can Nikon edge its way back into the Top 3? Nikon’s impressive ZR was released in November 2025 and will not have had long to make an impact on that year’s figures, while looking at this year its high-profile brand presence on the Artemis II mission will certainly have helped sales, even if it was a . Meanwhile, if Sony can actually start shipping the (currently delayed) FX5, it could have a bit of a hit on its hands.

Then, of course, we have to factor in what may still happen in the remaining months of this year. The forthcoming models with the most buzz attached are the Fujifilm X-T6, the Canon EOS R8 Mark II, and the Nikon Z9 II. Those are respectively currently delayed until October (probably), expected next month, and slipping possibly even past the end of this year (maybe) as Nikon tries to integrate as much RED technology into it as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets. It would take something seismic to alter the position of the front two, but there is everything to play for when it comes to that third place between Fujifilm and Nikon.