Just how many camcorders do they sell?

[Mark Goodsell]

Guys, a buddy of mine and I were doing a thought experiment during some 'dead time' trying to figure out how many camcorders of a certain model (say, a handheld eng type) that a manufacturer can expect to produce/sell worldwide? Have any companies ever produced such numbers?

You'd have to take into consideration the number of news stations, Studios, independent content producers, small documentary or event producers, churches, businesses as well as the enthusiast prosumer guy ...and the fact that some will buy any one of a number of different Panasonic, or Sony models that fit their needs while others, maybe Canon or JVC. On top of that, a large percentage of potential buyers may hold onto their technology for a while even skipping a generation or two, and still others might decide to go the route of a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

Does anybody know how many of a popular model like a Panasonic DVX 200 they might sell in a year or generation, or something smaller like a Canon XA10 or another camcorder? What about a past camcorder like a Sony EX1/R or the fabled PD150? Are we talking a couple hundred thousand, or potentially a couple million for a really popular unit? I'd be interested in DSLR qtys too if anyone has heard.

Just curious.

Thanks,

[Edward Carlson]

Anecdotally, I worked at NY1 News back in 2010. They had a fleet of 8 Panasonic SPX800s, 5 HVX200s, and two HPX370s. The SPX was a SD camera, but used P2 cards. The broadcast was at 720p, so upresing the SD footage to HD wasn't that big of a deal, since it was still digital.

[Mark Goodsell]

I guess I can partially answer my own question here, at least with dSLRs. Here are totals I found for DSLRs for Nikon and Canon:

2011 dSLR sales (as reported by Reuters):
Nikon: 4.7 million
Canon: 7.2 million

It's more than I thought it would be..
Still love to know about camcorder sales..