Since releasing their spring-season digital still camera (DSC) models in the first quarter of 2015, DSC vendors have launched very limited number of new devices, showing that they no longer have much interest in the DSC market, according to Digitimes Research's latest finding.
The only exceptions are Sony and Canon, both of whom still released new DSCs every quarter during 2015. In the fourth quarter, both released high-end DSC models featuring large image sensors in order to differentiate their devices from smartphone cameras, Digitimes Research's report noted.
After launching its high-end RX10 II and RX100 IV - which use stacked CMOS image sensors with DRAM chips - in third-quarter 2015, Sony released the RX1R II, featuring a full-frame CMOS sensor in the fourth quarter and bringing 40-megapixel resolution into the consumer DSC market.
Meanwhile, Canon launched the G5 X and G9 X both equipped with a 1-inch 20.2-megapixel CMOS sensor in the fourth quarter. The G5 X has more features and is targeting mainly the high-end market, while the G9 X is more price friendly and is thinner and lighter.
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