Indeed. It is interesting to note the following

1) Steve Jobs initially wanted to launch the iCamera, a standalone camera before going with the iPhone. If he had launched the camera first, Canon, Nikon and the rest wouldn't be in business by now, while Nokia & Blackberry would still be churning out mediocre, user unfriendly handphones with slight increases in screen resolution and processor speed. Just like how Canikon is doing right now

2) Some camera shops seems to be doing really badly. One based in Sg Wang Plaza committed suicide last year (came out in the chinese newspaper). Still, they don't downsize to save costs in order to fight another day.

3) Sony supplies camera sensors to virtually all camera manufacturers except for Canon. They also supply majority of all sensors for automotive and smart phones. Their latest report is that they expect the standalone camera market (DSLR, mirrorless, Point & shoot) to further decrease 30% year on year for the next two years.

Thus
Total cameras shipped in 2012 = 70 million+
Expected total cameras shipped in 2016 = 8 million (all camera types)

Hmm, what would camera shops need to do in order to survive? any thoughts?

Sigh. It was a few good years in the camera industry back then. After all, at one time people were lining up to even buy second hand lenses at Pudu Plaza before YL's shop opens. Now, the situation looks really quiet...

Looking back with nostalgia.