Industry Insights | Outdoor Sports Reach a Phase of Developmental Peak, and the Sports Camera Industry Embraces New Opportunities

A sports camera is a small camera that has multiple protective capabilities such as waterproofing and anti-shake, allowing for stable high-definition photography in complex usage environments dominated by sports. Sports cameras combine video recording and photography functions, but since they only have an advantage in dynamic video recording, most consumers use them for capturing footage during sports activities.

Traditional shooting equipment such as smartphones and digital cameras generally cannot work stably in motion environments, and it is also difficult to achieve normal shooting in high-altitude or deep-water environments. For a few traditional shooting devices that can adapt to motion environments, it is also challenging to reach certain specific shooting angles. The emergence of sports cameras has overturned these limitations of traditional shooting equipment.

Source: Analysis by Frost & Sullivan

Compared to traditional cameras, action cameras have significant differences in terms of purpose, appearance, functionality, accessories, and more.

In terms of use,Traditional cameras mainly capture surrounding people and scenery in fixed positions, while action cameras are often used to photograph people or objects in motion and their first-person perspectives. The main usage scenarios include skateboarding, skiing, cycling, skydiving, racing, etc. The shooting angles are novel and highly immersive, presenting dynamic video works.

Skiers under the GoPro lens

In terms of appearance,Traditional cameras are large and heavy, making it difficult to perform stable and reliable shooting during movement. In contrast, sports cameras are much smaller in size than traditional cameras, making them convenient to carry and lighter in weight. After being fixed with accessories, they can achieve fixed viewing angles at multiple positions.

In terms of functionality,Unlike traditional camera designs that pursue perfect image quality and color, action cameras are uniquely designed for sports scenarios. They feature prominent functions such as waterproofing, anti-shake, and drop resistance, enabling them to perform stable shooting operations even in harsh external environments.

The lens is a key component that determines the camera's shooting capabilities. In terms of accessories, action cameras often use fixed-focus wide-angle lenses.Fixed-focus lenses offer better image quality than zoom lenses, while wide-angle lenses enrich the content of captured images, avoiding the loss of subjects during shooting and facilitating focusing on moving objects.

Source: Analysis by Frost & Sullivan

Before 2004, action cameras were still in the conceptual formation stage.As early as the 1980s, in motorcycle off-road racing, intermediate transmission platforms were established through aerial photography video systems, directly transmitting images captured by Canon color video cameras mounted on motorcycle riders' helmets to television broadcast vehicles. For the first time, the first-person view images of racers appeared on live TV broadcasts. Early sports cameras did not form a market, nor were there complete product solutions. During this period, first-person image shooting was mostly done by photographers using existing video equipment for DIY.

From 2004 to 2014, it was a period of gradual maturation for sports camera products.In 2004, GoPro launched its first product, HERO, providing surfers with a novel photography tool suitable for use during sports, but still lacking video capabilities. In 2005, VIO's Viosport Adventure Cam allowed users to capture outdoor images with the help of auxiliary devices. With the continuous improvement in resolution and technology of action cameras, many classic action camera products emerged during this period.

In 2009, GoPro launched its first high-definition Hero sports camera, supporting 1080P video recording and featuring a built-in rechargeable battery. The product achieved certain success in the extreme sports market, film and television production, and sports event video recording at the time. Between 2010 and 2014, sports camera technology continued to improve, but the consumer demographic dividend enjoyed by international manufacturers in the Western extreme sports market gradually became saturated. International sports camera manufacturers represented by GoPro turned to exploring the Asian market in search of broader revenue sources.

Since 2015, sports camera brands such as GoPro have entered China. Local brands have exerted significant sales pressure on GoPro by taking advantage of cost advantages.Some local enterprises have long been OEMing for GoPro, accumulating rich experience in sports camera production. They have also OEMed for later domestic sports camera brands such as Insta360, helping to lower product prices for local brands and achieve rapid iteration from concept design to final product.

By now, local brands are able to compete on par with brands like GoPro, and they better meet the actual needs of the local market in terms of technology, applications, and more. Domestic brands are expected to gradually break through the technical barriers of international leading brands by leveraging their supply chain advantages and gain greater competitive advantages through low-price strategies.

Source: Analysis by Frost & Sullivan

In terms of global sports camera shipments, the shipments increased from about 15 million units in 2017 to over 25 million units in 2021, with an average annual compound growth rate of nearly 15% from 2017 to 2021.

Driven by factors such as consumers' increasing enthusiasm for outdoor activities in the post-pandemic era, the recovery of the global tourism market, the formation of user habits in the content social era, and the popularity of extreme sports, it is expected that global sports camera shipments will continue to grow steadily. By 2026, global sports camera shipments will increase to over 45 million units, maintaining an average annual compound growth rate of nearly 12% between 2022 and 2026.

Source: Analysis by Frost & Sullivan

• upstream
  

Action cameras are a high integration of hardware, software, and accessories, with upstream hardware suppliers engaged in the production and research and development of components such as lens modules, sensing elements, CMOS, and power supplies.Imaging quality is an important indicator for evaluating any camera. The quality of CMOS sensors, as well as optical glass materials and hardware such as GPUs, are of high importance and account for a significant proportion of raw material costs. They are the most valuable components in motion cameras and can significantly enhance product value. Companies with leading technology have a higher bargaining power.

• middle stream
  

As manufacturers, brand owners, and distributors of products for mid-level participants in the sports camera industry, they are at the core of the sports camera supply chain.Currently, there are many manufacturers with the capability to produce sports cameras on behalf of other brands, offering a wide range of OEM options for brands. Therefore, manufacturers with rich production and design experience, capable of independently conducting research and development of sports cameras, and continuously strengthening their technical research capabilities will gain an advantage in market competition.

The barriers to entry for sports camera brands are high, and companies with strong brand appeal have more say. Leading brands such as GoPro have long accumulated brand influence, making it difficult for companies with lower brand value to significantly impact the market share of these top brands. Therefore, the most bargaining power in the midstream lies with brand owners with stronger market appeal. Meanwhile, manufacturers with weaker brand influence can also gain consumer popularity through cost-effective products, stabilizing their market position at lower prices and providing consumers with more cost-effective options.

• downstream

The downstream of the sports camera industry is the product sales channel and the consumer base it covers.The individual consumer group for sports cameras includes outdoor or extreme sports enthusiasts, professional film and television production teams, as well as ordinary photography enthusiasts. Additionally, there are enterprise-level consumers who use sports cameras, including those involved in vertical industries.

Source: Analysis by Frost & Sullivan

In recent years, the importance of content-based social products on social networks has continued to rise, driving continuous growth in consumer demand for content collection devices such as action cameras.Unlike traditional social products, content-based social products focus on content as the core and user connector, enhancing user stickiness through the sharing of high-quality content. Image and video-based social software, represented by apps like YouTube and Instagram, have seen a continuous and stable increase in user numbers. In 2021, Instagram's monthly active users exceeded 2 billion. Users' habits of photography and sharing have gradually formed, driving the introduction of new users to the sports camera market and the renewal of old user products.

As one of the most important markets for action cameras, the popularity of extreme sports will also drive the development of the action camera industry.The scale of participants in various sports including paragliding, skiing, skateboarding, and diving is expected to continue expanding in the future. The popularity of extreme sports will continue to drive incremental customer growth for the sports camera market. Sports cameras can provide audiences with an unprecedented viewing experience: by leveraging their unique shooting advantages, sports cameras offer first-person perspective images. It is anticipated that the development of extreme sports in the future will bring sustained and considerable growth to the sports camera market.

In addition, the development of the global tourism market has brought sufficient and stable customer sources to the sports camera market. The recovery of the tourism market in the post-pandemic era has brought new opportunities for the development of the sports camera market.The continuous development of the world economy and the improvement of people's living standards have driven a growing awareness among global consumers about travel consumption. Travel consumers are one of the main sources of customers for the sports camera market, and the continuous growth of global tourist numbers will drive the prosperity of the sports camera market. In 2019, the total number of international tourist arrivals reached nearly 2.3 billion. At the same time, the post-pandemic era is expected to see a rebound in the travel consumption demand of people around the world, which will have a positive impact on the sports camera market.

Therefore, driven by multiple factors such as the formation of user habits in content-based social products, the popularity of extreme sports, and the development of the global tourism market, it is expected that the global sports camera market will maintain steady growth over the next five years.

In the future, the sports camera industry is expected to show development trends such as closer integration of all links in the industrial chain, broader downstream application areas, and joint development by high-end and mid-range brands. Domestic OEMs with cost competitive advantages and domestic brands with both cost-effectiveness and technical advantages are also expected to find unique development opportunities suitable for themselves in the global competition of the sports camera industry.