IDC: 26Q2 global handheld smart camera market shipments exceeded 5.88 million units, up 57% year-on-year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to the “Global Handheld Smart Camera Market Tracking Report for the Second Quarter of 2026” recently released by International Data Corporation (IDC), the 2026Q2 global handheld smart camera market shipments exceeded 5.88 million units, an increase of 57% over the previous year. Sales were close to RMB 15.7 billion, up 50% year over year. IDC predicts that by 2030, the global handheld smart camera market will ship close to 41 million units, with a five-year compound growth rate of nearly 20%.

Market Status

Action camera market: 26Q2 global sports camera shipments exceeded 2.55 million units, an increase of 47% over the previous year. The average unit price was RMB 2,262, down 4% year on year. Among them, shipments of non-detachable action cameras (that is, wide-angle action cameras) increased 22% year over year, and detachable action cameras (that is, thumb cameras) increased by more than 300% year over year.

Gimbal camera market: 26Q2 global gimbal camera shipments were close to 2.8 million units, up 87% year on year. The average unit price was 2,968 yuan, down 6% year on year. Major manufacturers upgraded single cameras and iterated, and new dual-camera products were sold out as soon as they were released. In particular, sales were booming in the Chinese market during the summer, driving the gimbal camera market to a new high.

Panoramic camera market: 26Q2 global shipments exceeded 530,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 4%.

The competitive landscape

In the 26Q2 global handheld smart camera market, DJI maintained the first place with a 73% shipment market share, up 87% year on year; shadow stone shipments reached 20%, up 40% year on year, ranking second; GoPro was strongly challenged by domestic manufacturers in the global market, and shipments continued to shrink and expand year-on-year.

DJI

DJI shipped more than 4.28 million units in 26Q2, ranking first with an overall market share of 73%, a record high with an increase of 11 percentage points over the previous year. In terms of categories, DJI PTZ cameras themselves accounted for more than 60% of shipments, an increase of more than 77% over the previous year. The market share of non-detachable action camera shipments increased 11 percentage points year over year to 64%, and the share of the Action5 Pro and 6th generation product structure increased significantly. At the same time, only one detachable action camera had a market share of more than 55% in shipments.

The fourth generation of Gundai Dual Camera Pocket4P's innovative product entered the Chinese and global markets. With a 17-level dynamic range, the next-generation D-Log2 professional color curve completed the “pocket movie machine” transition. Beyond the product level, DJI's supply chain system and global retail network form a deep brand moat. Faced with sharp fluctuations in the price of upstream core components, the brand relied on accurate industry judgment and strong supply chain control to ensure the smooth delivery and highly competitive sales prices of new products in Yuntai under “high configuration and large storage”.

Shadowstone

Global shipments in 26Q2 exceeded 1.15 million units (the results are based on IDC research methodology statistics; in the end, please refer to the manufacturer's financial disclosure for data involving listed companies). In the overall handheld smart camera market, Shadow Rock maintained the second ranking with a 20% shipment market share. In the panoramic camera market (that is, 360 cameras), the 26Q2 shipment market share was 73%, up more than 4 percentage points from month to month. In the non-detachable action camera market, the market share of shipments exceeded 17%, an increase of 2 percentage points over the previous year. It gained 43% market share in the detachable action camera market by shipment volume. The Luna Ultra PTZ camera was first launched and sold well in the global market until 26Q2, with a market share of nearly 6%.

The launch of a new 26Q2 gimbal and panoramic cameras, detachable and non-detachable action cameras create a new imaging product direction that completes the full image matrix and still has a larger sensor viewfinder in the future. The three core technology directions are imaging (AI models replace traditional algorithms, night scene noise reduction, color tone management), AI intelligence (user intent understanding and analysis, automatic composition, intelligent framing, and AI editing), and robotics robot learning (camera physical world movement and camera movement) to create a camera intelligence vision. At the same time, Shadow Stone accelerates domestic and global channel coverage and layout. In the second half of '26, all video products will enter Apple and Honor stores in China, and new brand flagship stores will be added overseas in Japan, Europe, and the US.

GoPro

Shipments of action cameras fell 49% year over year, and panoramic cameras fell 61% year over year. Although the new action camera Mission1/Pro and Panorama MAX2 have finally made up for the hardware shortcomings, there is still a gap between ecology, software and hardware iteration, and Chinese manufacturers. The global strategy has shrunk, and more than 65% of shipments are concentrated in the Americas.

IDC Insights and Future Market Development Forecasts

From image recording equipment to miniaturized AI image computing platform terminal 1.0 to camera smart vision. Judging from the product development trend of handheld smart cameras, AI computing power has been rapidly integrated into software and hardware systems and will soon become a core factor in competition in the product community. Independent AI chips have been implanted in flagship products, and the computational performance of the platform has been significantly improved, driving the product's evolution to AI intelligent computing imaging platform 1.0 in terms of scene subject recognition, image stabilization and noise reduction, intelligent HDR, and composition coding. At the application software level, core vendors have begun to develop and train AI multi-scene models themselves. In the past, mature one-click editing has been upgraded to AI-directed editing, greatly improving the wonderful experience for users to create movies with one click. In addition, manufacturers have introduced a large cloud model of voice assistants to achieve end-to-end cloud collaboration for AI computing power scheduling.

Scene image quality has been upgraded again, and the potential of the gimbal camera market has exploded into a period of rapid growth. As one of the smart terminals with the strongest user stickiness, mobile phones are still not friendly enough in terms of motion tracking, image stabilization, and long-term creative fatigue when used in video shooting scenes. Action camera algorithms are strong in image stabilization, but image quality, depth of field, sense of space, and night scenes are relatively poor. The image quality is overwhelming but the operation is complicated. The fuselage lens set is heavy, not portable, and expensive. The gimbal camera is portable and small, and has the characteristics of an ultra-stable gimbal with three-axis mechanical image stabilization. Some of the image quality output is comparable to that of a sports camera, and the ease of use is taken into account. The introduction of optical zoom dual camera products in '26 pushed the gimbal market into a new stage in scene and image quality. At the same time, larger photosensitive chips, AI chip modules, and multiple lens sets also present many challenges to manufacturers in terms of maintaining small size and heat dissipation. In particular, the structural design, control accuracy, and shock resistance of small gimbals. Along with rapid product iteration and declining average unit prices, the user base of gimbal cameras is also rapidly expanding from professional video content creators to ordinary consumers, especially among students and female users. The gimbal camera market is entering a period of explosive growth.

Channel transformation, the rise of content e-commerce, offline focus on high-end experiences and services, and active channels. Judging from the handheld smart camera channel structure, the traditional e-commerce company JD and Tmall Amazon still contributed to the basic market of shipments. Since the application scenarios of action cameras, panoramic cameras, and gimbal cameras stem from video content creation attributes and traditional 3C digital terminal partitions, and creative experiences in different scenarios, KOLs are more appealing to the main consumers than the model of searching and comparing prices to place orders, so the share of content e-commerce represented by Douyin is rapidly rising. Offline channels, brands are still focusing on domestic and global flagship store construction, including establishing channel ecosystem cooperation with high-end mobile phone brands. Take into account brand endorsements, customer experience, online distribution, high-end product sales, and building a gold medal service network. Another offline channel direction is to develop various vertical resources, such as travel consumption scenario channels, rental channels, and accessory channels.

The demand side of the handheld smart camera market and within the industry remain optimistic, and the compound growth rate of shipments is expected to be close to 20% in the next five years. Although the handheld smart camera market is developing well, its penetration rate is less than 2% compared to the annual shipments of smart phones, DSLRs, and traditional fixed lens digital cameras in the high-related imaging terminal category. According to the comprehensive forecast model, IDC believes that by 2030, the global handheld smart camera market will be close to 41 million units, with an overall compound growth rate of close to 20%.