The battle over which is the best-selling camera manufacturer is as old as the companies themselves. While today we have a few monopolies, the struggle between them has not really ended. In fact, even today, each manufacturer tries to win the crown at various award shows to showcase that they are still the most favoured in the industry. However, the two companies that have always faced a close call have been Canon and Sony, with Canon holding a bigger share in the market. Per new reports, China has finally unveiled the most popular camera brand in its region, and the answer should not be that surprising.
According to Digi Camera Info, a report by Aisuko Beta, has finally put a stop to the face-off. At the country’s largest shopping festival, 618, users have finally named Sony as the winner, per Weibo. This list has been collated from shopping sites such as JD.com and Tmall, two of the country’s largest e-commerce platforms. The report suggests that Tmall noticed a growth of over 50% year-on-year during this year’s sale event. Furthermore, the rise has happened despite the economic turmoil the country is facing now.
The report further adds that on JD.com, Sony was at the top for both interchangeable lens cameras and lenses. In fact, the Sony a7C II was the best-selling camera, followed by the a7 IV. As for the lens, the FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II topped the charts, along with more options from the company. On Tmall, Sony was at the top for major categories. In fact, the NEX-5C, one of Sony’s oldest cameras, has also been finding new fame in 2025, 15 years after its release.
From the looks of it, full-frame cameras, especially those that are compact, seem to be at the top. This showcases that while consumers prefer higher resolution cameras, they also want something that is easily portable. As for lenses, zoom lenses offer more range than primes, and naturally, it also another option for many casual shooters, who prefer better resolution than their phone cameras.
However, while Canon does most of the heavy lifting around the world, in China, Sony’s mirrorless cameras seem to be paving the way. Canon’s mirrorless cameras have some great options, like the R5 or the R6 Mk II; however, none are as compact as the Sony a7c II. Could this mean Canon also needs to get into the queue of launching devices that have smaller bodies but bigger sensors? Sony has already proved this trend will continue after the introduction of the RX1R III, and Fujifilm also has something similar with the GFX100 RF. Whether the company agrees to do this or not remains to be seen. But it is safe to say that Sony has a better chance of getting more users than Canon, if they do not listen to consumers’ demands.