Source: YuanSight

Are Japanese Brands' Stronghold on the Mirrorless Camera Market About to Be Challenged by Domestic Players?

Recently, Insta360's founder, Liu Jingkang, confirmed in a media interview that the company is intensively developing its mirrorless camera project. Liu mentioned that due to compliance requirements for information disclosure by listed companies, he could not disclose too many specific details at this juncture. However, he clarified that, aside from smartphones, all imaging-related sectors and equipment fields within the industry fall within Insta360's strategic purview.

Following the announcement, many netizens expressed excitement about the potential for domestic large-sensor portable cameras to "overtake on the curve." This sentiment is particularly strong given that Japanese brands, leveraging their market monopoly in recent years, have not only engaged in incremental updates but have also frequently raised product prices, citing increased costs. From the consumer's perspective, the entry of domestic brands is expected to "shake up the camera market."

Source: Internet

However, some netizens remain skeptical, believing that domestic manufacturers still face significant technical hurdles in entering this specialized camera market at this stage.

Notably, according to Japanese media reports, Insta360's first handheld gimbal camera, the Luna Ultra, was recently launched in the Japanese market and quickly became a bestseller. The counterattack of domestic imaging brands into the Japanese market has sparked industry discussions about future shifts in imaging creation demands. Some Japanese photography bloggers have suggested that traditional video cameras will gradually be replaced by new categories of intelligent and portable imaging devices.

Source: Internet

Liu Jingkang believes that by leveraging strengths in optical systems, AI algorithms, cross-device technology integration, and the establishment of a creator community platform, Insta360 is continuously fortifying its brand ecosystem barriers. This also opens up more possibilities for domestic manufacturers entering the mirrorless camera arena, defining a new generation of professional cameras through intelligent creation and sharing experiences.

01 Imaging Ecosystem Strategy

The fact that Insta360 is developing mirrorless cameras is not exactly a secret.

Insta360 founder Liu Jingkang previously mentioned in a media interview that as early as a 2021 strategy meeting, the company had deduced that it would not only launch a "surround-style differentiated offensive" in the action camera market but also explore other new imaging markets, ultimately covering all focal lengths and scenarios.

When asked at the time whether this implied Insta360 would venture into the mirrorless and DSLR domains, Liu Jingkang did not explicitly deny it. Now, in 2026, rumors about Insta360's mirrorless cameras have begun to intensify.

In January, Liu Jingkang teased a mysterious new camera on Weibo with the caption "Advancing to new focal lengths," sparking interest in the photography community.

Source: Weibo

Judging from the photos, the new camera features a flip screen and multiple physical buttons on the body. The screen display indicates that the product allows adjustments to various parameters such as shooting mode, shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, focus mode, metering mode, and ISO.

According to speculation in the photography community, this new camera could be an M43-spec mirrorless model or a large-sensor portable digital camera similar to the Ricoh GR or Fujifilm X100 series.

In April, a foreign camera blogger leaked spy photos of Insta360's first interchangeable-lens digital camera. The leaks showed that the overall design and color scheme of the camera matched the product teased by Liu Jingkang in January. Additionally, from the front view, the prototype was equipped with an Olympus 14-42mm zoom lens.

Source: Internet

In June, during an interview with Japanese media, Liu Jingkang not only confirmed the mirrorless camera project but also briefly compared it to Fujifilm's consumer and mirrorless cameras, acknowledging their unique product designs and color schemes that have won market recognition.

From a product strategy perspective, Insta360's entry into the professional mirrorless camera arena aligns with the brand's next phase of expansion. Its existing product lineup covers four major categories: panoramic cameras, modular action cameras, handheld gimbal cameras, and aerial photography equipment, essentially covering all current categories in the handheld intelligent camera market.

However, in this domain, Insta360 is facing fierce competition from industry rivals.

IDC data shows that in the first quarter of this year, global shipments of handheld intelligent cameras increased by 33% year-on-year, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of nearly 18%. Insta360 held a 22% market share in shipments, ranking second. In the action camera market, Insta360 accounted for 24% of the market, while in the panoramic camera segment, it maintained the top spot with a 68% share in shipments.

In the long run, Insta360's product matrix primarily focuses on various innovative forms of portable imaging devices. As market competition intensifies and the industry ceiling approaches, to open up greater market space and find the final piece to complete its brand imaging ecosystem, mirrorless cameras have become an unavoidable category.

To this end, Insta360 is continuously increasing its R&D investment. In the first quarter of this year, Insta360's revenue reached 2.481 billion yuan, up 83.11% year-on-year. Over the past seven years, Insta360's cumulative R&D investment has exceeded 3 billion yuan, with R&D spending reaching 1.53 billion yuan in 2025 alone, up nearly 100% year-on-year, surpassing revenue growth.

02 The Market is Warming Up

Insta360's entry into the mirrorless camera market comes at a delicate moment.

Currently, the global mirrorless camera market, particularly the compact digital camera segment, is experiencing a comprehensive rebound.

Zhiyan Consulting data shows that from 2020 to 2024, global shipments of mirrorless cameras grew from 2.933 million units to 5.612 million units, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 17.6%. Shipment value also increased from 15.96 billion yuan to 31.90 billion yuan. Data from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) of Japan shows that in 2025, global compact camera sales reached 2.44 million units, up 29.6% year-on-year.

Source: CIPA Data

Additionally, Global Market Insights predicts that the global digital camera market will grow from 24.8 billion USD in 2026 to 41.8 billion USD by 2035.

After traditional DSLR cameras gradually exit the mainstream market, mirrorless cameras, with their portability and improved optical performance, are beginning to dominate the photography market. China, as the world's largest consumer market for mirrorless cameras, contributed 29.2% of global shipments in 2024.

However, compared to the massive domestic consumer demand, domestic camera brands have yet to achieve product and market breakthroughs in the mirrorless camera segment.

Meanwhile, Japanese brands have frequently raised prices citing insufficient production capacity and rising costs. Since June, Ricoh and Fujifilm have successively announced price hikes, confirming official price adjustments for multiple products starting July 1 this year, with increases ranging from several hundred to over a thousand yuan. As a result, discussions about Japanese manufacturers "relying on legacy" and domestic manufacturers "shaking up the mirrorless market" have begun to ferment on social media.

Source: Online Comment Section

Liu Jingkang previously stated in an interview that when deciding whether to enter a particular category, the company does not focus on whether it is a window of opportunity or a trend but rather on whether there is genuine user demand, whether it can bring commercial returns, and whether it can enhance capabilities.

From the perspective of existing market demand, the rebound in the mirrorless camera market provides an opportunity for Insta360 to explore new categories. On this basis, the promotion and popularization of the M43 Alliance offer Insta360 a mature ecosystem for entering the domestic mirrorless camera arena.

The M43 Alliance, initiated by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, refers to the mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera system standard aimed at promoting device interchangeability across different brands. For domestic manufacturers, joining the M43 Alliance means they do not need to build an entire camera ecosystem from scratch but can directly share this mature technological platform and resources. The open nature of the M43 Alliance is considered an ideal springboard for new entrants.

The announcement by domestic camera brand Songdian earlier this year to join the M43 Alliance sparked heated discussions | Source: Internet

However, it is still worth noting that while the M43 system offers advantages such as compact body size, a comprehensive lens lineup, and lower R&D costs, it still lags behind the deep accumulation and technical barriers of Japanese manufacturers in areas like sensor technology, optical design, and underlying algorithms.

Additionally, brands like Sony, Nikon, and Canon have established technical expertise, brand recognition, channel networks, and user loyalty in the mirrorless domain, which remain insurmountable barriers for new brands in the short term.

Liu Jingkang stated in the interview that the current progress of mirrorless camera R&D is slower than expected, but Insta360 is working hard to advance it.

In recent years, domestic imaging manufacturers have accumulated extensive experience in imaging technology, particularly establishing product and market advantages in areas such as image stabilization systems, high-definition image transmission technology, and manual-auto lens control systems. Their new generation of camera experiences, built around "hardware + algorithms + ecosystem," has been validated across multiple action cameras and handheld gimbal cameras, opening up more market imagination for their entry into the mirrorless camera segment.

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