Thing is, most people don't change their digicam all that often. And most people get them at electronics stores. Even I did the same. And then, people just store their photos on a hard disk and never look at them. No printing and no film basically killed their cash flow.
That's only been in the last few years though. Prior to a few years ago, when digital cam's were pre-12mpx, people were updating their bodies every year or so because there was always something with more megapixels. Once sensors hit the 12mpx mark and above, there was/is little need to upgrade to anything bigger, because its mostly overkill. With pro-sumer models in the 16mpx range and full frame models in the 24mpx range, people are keeping their bodies much much longer these days.
Here in the states, the major digital retailer is B&H. A LOT of people buy gear from there online because they don't have to pay sales tax.
And I fully agree with whoever said that digital has reached a saturation point. It seems that Canon and Nikon are just reinventing bodies and adding and subtracting features just to say they have a 'new' model.
I used to be a digital gearhead to the enth degree, and at some point it just got to be too much. I got tired of specs, and mouse clicks, and buttons, and settings, and menus, and sensors, and pixels, and everything else.
...sales still happen because people either come through the door knowing exactly what they want or are just gullible and will buy anything.
I was at Best Buy a few months ago looking for a cable for something, can't remember what, but I passed by their digital camera section. I find it laughable to purchase cameras at Best Buy anyway, but there was a lady there looking to purchase. As I passed by, I overheard the salesman, who looked like he was in the 8th grade, tell her that the "red nikon D3200 was better than the black nikon D3200 because it was a "special edition" with better technology." I thought for a minute that I would stop and properly inform her, but then I figured that I wouldn't want anyone showing up at my job and causing me to loose money, so I left it alone.
