Sports Optic Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the sports optic market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global sports optic market reached a value of nearly $1.8 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.27% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2023 to $2.6 billion in 2028 at a rate of 4.40%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.90% from 2028 and reach $3.3 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the increasing participation in camping activities, increasing number of sports activities, rising disposable income and strong economic growth in emerging markets. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include high cost of premium sports optics.

Going forward, the rise in tourism, rise in e-commerce platforms, rising urbanization and favorable government support will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the sports optic market in the future include import and export tariffs.

The sports optic market is segmented by product type into telescopes, binoculars, riflescopes and rangefinders. The binoculars market was the largest segment of the sports optic market segmented by product type, accounting for 41.66% or $862.4 million of the total in 2023. Going forward, the rangefinders segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the sports optic market segmented by product type, at a CAGR of 5.17% during 2023-2028.

The sports optic market is segmented by distribution channel into online and offline. The online market was the largest segment of the sports optic market segmented by distribution channel, accounting for 61.55% or $1.27 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the online segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the sports optic market segmented by distribution channel, at a CAGR of 5.05% during 2023-2028.

The sports optic market is segmented by applications into golf, wheel sport, snow sport, water sport, shooting sports, horse racing and other applications. The shooting sports market was the largest segment of the sports optic market segmented by applications, accounting for 30.91% or $639.86 million of the total in 2023. Going forward, the shooting sports segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the sports optic market segmented by applications, at a CAGR of 5.20% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the sports optic market, accounting for 36.45% or $754.42 million of the total in 2023. It was followed by Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the sports optic market will be Asia-Pacific and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 6.28% and 5.94% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and South America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 5.66% and 4.91% respectively.

The global sports optic market is concentrated, with large players in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 44% of the total market in 2023. Kowa Company, Ltd. (Kowa Sporting Optics) was the largest competitor with a 7.1% share of the market, followed by Nikon Corporation with 5.1%, Leica Camera AG with 5.1%, Vanguard with 5%, Burris Company Inc. with 4.8%, Teledyne FLIR LLC (FLIR Systems Inc.) with 4.6%, Carl Zeiss AG (ZEISS Group) with 4.4%, Fujifilm Holdings Corporation with 4.1%, Leupold & Stevens Inc. with 2.1% and Swarovski Optik (Swarovski group) with 1.8%.

The top opportunities in the sports optic market segmented by product type will arise in the binoculars segment, which will gain $197.86 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the sports optic market segmented by distribution channel will arise in the online segment, which will gain $356.28 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the sports optic market segmented by applications will arise in the shooting sports segment, which will gain $184.71 million of global annual sales by 2028. The sports optic market size will gain the most in China at $117.93 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the sports optic market include developing AI (artificial intelligence)-powered binoculars for wildlife identification, strategic partnerships, launching next-generation augmented reality (AR) swim goggles, developing new spotting scopes tailored for birdwatching and nature observation and developing innovative designs in new rifle scopes for outdoor use.

Player-adopted strategies in the sports optic market include focus on enhancing operational capabilities through the launch of new product developments.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the sports optic companies to focus on Ai-enhanced product development, focus on augmented reality innovations, focus on developing specialized spotting scopes, focus on innovative rifle scope designs, focus on rangefinders segment for market growth, expand in emerging markets, focus on expanding online sales channels, focus on strategic partnerships for market growth, focus on developing competitive pricing strategies, focus on enhancing digital marketing efforts, focus on experiential marketing initiatives and focus on shooting sports segment for business growth.