Sony tightens grip on mirrorless camera market here

By Lee Min-hyung

Sony Korea is expanding its dominance in Korea’s mirrorless camera market on the back of its premium branding strategy.

The local subsidiary of the Japan-based electronics giant has achieved good growth in the local mirrorless camera market since entering it in 2010. As of this April, the company posted a 62 percent share in the market here, up drastically from 37 percent in 2012.

The growth is noticeable at a time when the digital camera market is showing signs of falling on the rise of smartphones with high-quality camera lenses.

Sony Korea said it has been the market leader in the local mirrorless interchangeable lens camera industry for six consecutive years since 2010.

“A branding strategy is at the center of the growth of our mirrorless camera business here,” said Bae Ji-hoon, Alpha marketing head at Sony Korea. “To build a reliable brand image, we adopted Carl Zeiss lens on our Alpha mirrorless series. We have since won an explosive response from customers, as Sony has succeeded in proving that compact mirrorless cameras can also take high-quality pictures comparable to DSLRs.

“The growth has also reshaped the traditional DSLR-based camera industry.”

The company said it will continue to strengthen its foothold in the mirrorless market this year by continuing to enhance its brand identity with premium lens brand G Master.

“When we first launched the Alpha brand in 2006, we had only one entry-level product and 10 lenses,” the Sony Korea Alpha marketing head said.

“But our mirrorless lineup now holds 13 cameras, with 70 kinds of lenses.

“With the G Master premium brand, we are going to differentiate ourselves from other camera manufacturers and hold a series of marketing campaigns as a leading mirrorless brand. The move reflects our core business strategy: building a strong and reliable brand image on a mid- to long-term basis.”

He cited a strong bond with customers as another key reason for the company’s mirrorless camera success here.

“Existing camera companies focused solely on communications with advertisers and experts,” he said. “But our Alpha team has pushed for more active communication with end users, allowing us to release more customer-friendly products.”