[wombatmobile]

> I think there was a peak in hobby photography

By "hobby photography" it sounds like you mean SLR hobby photography. Of course, hobby photography has boomed off the charts with phones.

Meanwhile, professional photography is nearly an extinct profession.

Over the last 20 years, as print publications were replaced by online, the professions of journalist and press photographer declined to the point where they now hardly exist.

[anyfactor]

Say you are buying a car at pre-tesla days. There is plenty of competition in the market and there is no clear market leader. You need to buy because you have to buy a car. The features never add much to anything and you make your decision based on recommendation and the reputation.

Now, you are making cars and you want people to buy more car. How can they do that? Upping the speed of your average consumer vehicle? Making it more mobile? Making generic upgrades in comfort features? Essentially adding units to existing features isn't a viable sales strategy. They can do nothing to have an uptick in car sales by just adding units to the features they offer.

Now you have the entire camera industry. Since the advent of decent mobile photography, you don't have to buy camera, so the manufacturer are already in a bad position. Then as far as innovation they are just adding units to existing features. More megapixels, better low light capabilities, higher FPS and that's about it. There isn't any effort or innovation in delivering something that is featurewise a new concept. There isn't anything that warrants someone to buy and carry it.