Olympus aims for 20 pct Digital SLR camera share

TOKYO (Reuters) - Olympus Corp (7733.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it aims for a global share of 20 percent or more in the digital single lens reflex camera market in five years, more than doubling its current share in a sector dominated by Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nikon Corp (7731.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras, high-end models with interchangeable lenses, are the most lucrative segment of the digital camera market.

"In the mid- to long-term, we will strive for a 20 percent market share or more to become one of the top three SLR makers," Olympus Imaging Corp President Masaharu Okubo told a news conference on Wednesday.

Olympus Imaging is the camera unit of Olympus.

Okubo said Olympus's share in the digital SLR camera market is expected to come to around 7 to 8 percent in the year to March 2008.

Competition is heating up among high-end camera makers after consumer electronics titans Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) launched their first digital SLR models last year to win a slice of the fast-growing market.

Canon held a 46.7 percent share in the global digital SLR camera market in 2006, followed by Nikon with 33 percent, Sony with 6.2 percent and Olympus with 5.9 percent, according to research firm IDC.

In a step to boost its presence, Olympus on Wednesday unveiled its flagship digital SLR camera targeted at professionals and advanced amateur photographers.

The new model, called E-3, will go on sale on November 23 in Japan for about 200,000 yen ($1,715).

Shortly after the president's comment, shares in Olympus, which also makes medical equipment such as endoscopes used to examine internal organs, closed down 0.6 percent at 4,950 yen, outperforming a 1.1 percent fall in the Nikkei average .N225.