Server, IPC, cloud computing The average retail price for consumer digital still cameras (DSCs) in the UK, Germany, US, Japan and China in December hit US$366, having risen for the third consecutive month.The price increase was mainly because CMOS-based DSC average retail pricing rose to US$431 during early December, helping boost DSC's overall average retail price. In addition, vendors have been reducing their new DSC projects as demand for DSCs has been gradually replaced by smartphones, according to Digitimes Research's latest findings.DSC models that have been released for over nine months are excluded from the data.The number of the available CMOS-based DSC models from seven major vendors in the five countries was only 66 in December, down from 136 in the same month a year ago.New DSCs that were launched for the fourth quarter of 2014 from first-tier vendors were Canon's PowerShot G7X, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-LX100 and Olympus' Stylus 1s. To create clear differentiation from smartphone cameras, the PowerShot G7X and Lumix DMC-LX100 both features 1-inch or above sensors.

Content from this article was part of a complete Digitimes Research Chinese-language report that has not yet been translated into English. If you are interested in an English version of the report or wish to receive more information about the report, click here to contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Digitimes Research also provides quarterly tracking services for market sectors such as Global Tablet, China Smartphone, China Smartphone AP, Taiwan ICT and Taiwan FPD. Click here for more information about Digitimes Research Tracking services. Wireless broadband developments in Southeast Asia marketsAs of 2013, the 10 ASEAN nations had a total of over 700 million mobile subscriptions, with the CAGR from 2003-2013 reaching 24%. This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the various mobile broadband markets in ASEAN and looks at the respective trends in 4G LTE development for those markets.2015 global tablet demand forecastThis Digitimes Research Special Report provides a 2015 forecast for the global tablet market and analyzes the strategies of key market players such as Google, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft.2015 China smartphone panel trend forecastThis Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the strategies of key China-based major panel makers BOE

, Tianma and IVO for attacking the different market segments through technology and pricing, and their relationship to local vendors Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, Xiaomi and Coolpad.After recent statements by Samsung customer support and other rumours regarding the future of their cameras, the company reached out to me seeking to clarify the situation. I’m afraid for Samsung fans it isn’t good news. You can read their official statement below… First of all I want to thank Samsung for making this public for the first time through an independent blog such as EOSHD. Best Flooring For TerracesI’ve long been a supporter of their efforts in the imaging market, with the NX1 and it’s 4K video mode being the undoubted pinnacle; Cheap Net Curtain WireIt is a shame that such innovation is a casualty of poor sales especially in Germany and I wish Samsung’s camera staff all the best for the future.How Can Amazon Sell Books For 1 Cent

Although Samsung seem to be making decisions based on individual regions at this stage, the rumours of a more widespread problem continue to be a concern. I think this problem (in one of the biggest camera markets in Europe) might turn out to be representative of a wider struggle on camera sales. The news comes on the back of rumours of a more complete shutdown of camera development at the Samsung headquarters in South Korea. That however remains at this stage an entirely speculative development and one the company is unlikely to comment on for a while yet. There remains the possibility Samsung are withdrawing ONLY in regional markets where sales have been intolerably poor. Regions where the NX system has done well, possibly in Asia, might live to see another day. It could be that stock is being moved to better performing regions and that in certain territories Samsung wants to make the best of the marketing spend already committed there. In my opinion this does not rule out a withdrawal from those markets in the future once existing marketing agency contracts are finished and stock depleted, etc.

Where did it go wrong? In my opinion, one issue with the NX system is the mount. APS-C has fallen out of fashion as the camera market has pushed further forward into enthusiast territory. Cameras like the Sony A7 series, Nikon D750 and Canon 5D Mark III have continued to sell as the lower-end APS-C and compact camera market took the brunt of the smartphone revolution. Third party manufacturers like Sigma, Tokina and Tamron never produced any lenses for the NX mount, while third party adapters to Canon EF providing electronic control of aperture were non-existent. This in turn lowered sales of NX1 and NX500 body-only sales to enthusiasts and pros, whilst the high prices of Samsung’s own lenses made consumers and the smartphone wielding masses reluctant to buy into the system. Then there’s the branding. In Germany especially, Samsung is not a known ‘premium’ photographic brand in the country that gave us Leica and Zeiss plus many others. As the market has shifted from consumer to premium, they have suffered as a result of being associated with a lot of cheap compacts.

Samsung are in fact one of the worlds most innovative digital imaging companies, a massive conglomerate with a military division building tanks, yet the best the average consumer in Germany can think of when they hear Samsung is a cut-price toaster. This is a shame because the NX1 and NX500 are best in class for video performance and features, in some ways for stills too. Perhaps Samsung should consider building a professional $3000 cinema camera based around the Super 35mm sensor in the NX1 which plays on their astounding technological strengths. I’ve been out shooting this week with the Samsung NX1 updated to the recent V1.40 firmware and I invested in the 16-50mm F2.0-F2.8 OIS zoom when my local store in Berlin cleared out the last display unit. This lens is undoubtably superb and one of the best APS-C zooms ever made, if not even THE best ever made. The Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 lacks stabilisation and isn’t as wide or as long. Samsung’s “S” premium lens transforms the NX1 into a phenomenal run & gun 4K cinema camera and when combined with the digital image stabilisation of firmware V1.4 gives the best video stabilisation available on any interchangeable lens Super 35mm camera.

It performs better than the Sony 5 axis in-body stabilisation and surpasses the Olympus E-M1’s system thanks to zero keystone distortion on wide angle shots. The 4K image of the NX1 with V1.40 now has significantly more dynamic range than at launch with the first firmware and a much smoother roll off to the highlights. Black levels can now be raised to clean up the shadows in low light and the luma range can be mapped to 16-235 in-camera to prevent clipping. Colour is superb and noise performance at ISO 800 far surpasses the GH4. The RGB 0-255 files of firmware V1.0 were heavily clipped on my Mac and required a remap from 0-255 to 16-235 using the Fast Colour Corrector tool in Adobe Premiere. As for H.265, this is now gaining widespread support foremost amongst them EditReady on the Mac and RockyMountain Movie Converter on Windows. Transcoding to an editable ProRes or similar format from the tiny master files is now trivial, faster and much easier than at launch – yet the H.265 codec maintains a superb amount of fine detail with minimal compression mud, far superior (and much sharper) than the H.264 codec on my Sony A7R II, even with smaller file sizes.