DJI and Insta360 Hold 87% of Handheld Camera Market as GoPro Falls Below 6%

Market Grows 33% as Chinese Makers Tighten Grip

Global handheld smart camera shipments reached 4.14 million units in the first quarter of 2026, up 33% year-over-year, with sales exceeding 10.5 billion yuan (approximately $1.5 billion), a 20% increase, according to IDC. Against a backdrop of sluggish recovery in the broader consumer electronics market, the segment showed remarkable growth resilience.

Chinese manufacturers DJI and Insta360 together captured 87% of shipment market share. DJI led with 2.7 million units shipped, a 65% share and 38% year-over-year growth, outpacing the industry average. Insta360 ranked second with 900,000 units and a 22% share, posting the fastest growth among major brands at 66%.

GoPro Falls Below 6% for First Time

GoPro's decline steepened. Shipments totaled approximately 300,000 units, down 33% year-over-year, with market share sliding from 10.8% for full-year 2025 to just under 6%. The remaining brands collectively shipped around 240,000 units, roughly 7% of the market, leaving the top three brands with over 93% combined.

From a revenue perspective, GoPro's contraction is starker. Its global revenue share was approximately 17% in Q1 2025 and shrank to single digits by Q1 2026, while DJI's revenue share climbed from 52% to 61%, gaining 9 percentage points year-over-year.

Sub-Segment Battle and AI Push

In the broader action camera market, DJI and Insta360 hold 43.8% and 41.2% of sales revenue respectively, together commanding over 85%, while GoPro is left with 10.7%. Insta360 maintained a 71% revenue share in 360 cameras, and its wide-angle action camera sales revenue grew 77%, 360 camera revenue rose 46%, and the thumb camera category jumped 116%.

DJI's Osmo Nano single-product shipment share exceeds 50% in the detachable action camera category, the fastest-growing segment with shipments up over 350%. Gimbal camera shipments grew over 18%, and 360 camera shipments exceeded 500,000 units, up over 55%, with Insta360 holding over 68% shipment share.

IDC notes DJI has migrated drone technologies such as multi-axis gimbal stabilization and multi-sensor fusion to handheld devices, while Insta360's software, including stitching algorithms and AI one-click editing, has gained wide recognition. AI functions now focus on scene depth perception, intelligent noise reduction, multi-frame synthesis, and low-light enhancement.

China Leads as IDC Sees 40 Million Units by 2030

China contributed more than half of global shipments in 2025, and the trend continued in Q1 2026. Outside China, the United States, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Japan are the top four markets. IDC projects global shipments will exceed 40 million units by 2030, with a five-year compound annual growth rate approaching 18%, and every sub-product line growing more than 15% annually.

The report attributes growth to the shift from traditional DSLR cameras toward lightweight, intelligent devices for content creators. Insta360's new gimbal camera begins global shipping in the second quarter, while GoPro's performance following its M1 series and Max2 panoramic releases remains to be seen.

Sources: Idc