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HWM+HardwareZone.com Tech Awards 2014: Readers' Choice Results

By Ng Chong Seng - 20 Feb 2014

Readers' Choice Awards - Consumer Electronics (Part 2)

Readers' Choice Awards - Consumer Electronics (Part 2)

 

Best Point & Shoot Digital Camera Brand - Canon

Here’s the grim truth: According to the the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA), total shipments of digital cameras have fallen to 62.8 million units in 2013, which was a 36% drop from 2012’s 98.1 million units. Shipments of cameras with built-in lenses (i.e., most compacts) have suffered the most, dropping from 2012’s to 78 million units to less than 46 million, a 41% contraction. In fact, CIPA is predicting this trend to continue, and forecasts that total shipments for fixed lens cameras would drop to less than 34 million this year. That said, with still a good 7 out 10 cameras shipped around the world by CIPA members in 2013 being fixed lens cameras, the compact camera market is unlikely to die just yet. And judging from your response, many of you are still buying compact cameras. For this Readers’ Choice category, the winner is once again Canon. Just a last week, the Japanese camera kingpin announced the PowerShot G1 X Mark II. Sporting a 1.5-inch 12.8-megapixel CMOS sensor, it sports a redesigned body and a faster 24-120mm F2.0-3.9 lens than the original G1 X that it replaces.

 

 

Best Mirrorless Camera Brand - Canon

Ever since we created the mirrorless camera category to reflect the rise of a new type of camera system three years ago, there had been a different winner each year. The inaugural award went to Sony; 2012’s winner was Nikon; and last year, it was Olympus who took the crown. This year, we’ve yet another new winner, and it’s Canon, who has recently announced the EOS M2. Surprisingly, Panasonic, who makes (in our opinion) pretty good mirrorless cameras, doesn’t figure in the top five, as Leica snatches the fourth spot.

 

 

Best DSLR Camera Brand - Canon

Despite the rise of mirrorless cameras, when it comes to sales, DSLRs still figure way more (13.8 million vs. 3.3 million in 2013 according to CIPA). And a large part of the sales went to Canon, and the company even claims that its EOS line of DSLRs has held the number one share of the global interchangeable-lens digital camera market for the past decade. In 2013, we saw three DSLRs from the company, the EOS 70D, EOS 100D, and EOS 700D. And just last week, we’ve the entry-level EOS 1200D. For the fourth straight year, you’ve voted Canon the best DSLR camera brand. Nikon, who also released several excellent DSLRs in 2013 (e.g. D7100, D610, D5300) comes in second. And Sony is a distant third.

 

 

Best HD Camcorder Brand - Canon

Most of the brands contesting in this category have gotten a double-digit share of the votes, but at the end of the day, there can only be one winner. For the fourth year straight, you’ve voted Canon (35%) your favorite camcorder brand. In January, the company added the Legria Mini X pocket camcorder to its lineup, as well as a pair of camcorders (Legria HF R56 and HF R506) with a 32x optical zoom lens and a 3.2-megapixel full HD CMOS sensor that focuses on video image quality. With this win, Canon has made a clean sweep of all camera-related Readers’ Choice categories this year. Sony, another camcorder giant, is second with 27% of the votes.

 

 

Best Consumer Electronics Megastore (Singapore) - Challenger

With 37% of the votes, IT and CE chain store Challenger managed to hold on to the trophy it won last year. This share is also up from last year’s 33%. increased compared to this time last year. Harvey Norman (15%), Best Denki (14%), and Courts (12%) followed behind.
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