Traditional film cameras, already taking a backseat to their digital cousins, could end up being left by the economic roadside as cell phones with picture-taking functions continue grabbing the attention and wallets of consumers and businesspeople alike. If the burgeoning trend continues, said industry analyst Tony Henning, by mid-2004, sales of camera phones in the USA could exceed the combined total sales of regular digital cameras and those using film.
"The forecast for 2003 for 'pure-play' digital cameras is about 32 million or 35 million units sold worldwide," said Henning, editor of Future Image's Wireless Imaging information service. "For film cameras, excluding single-use disposables, there could be up to 60 million units sold. That adds up to about 95 million units.
"Sales of cell phones with cameras embedded could reach 50 million units and phones that have cameras as a separate attachment could see another 40 million units," he added. "So this year is probably a toss-up as to who sells more, but next year is no contest."
The United States, said Henning, is again playing catch-up, especially relative to Japan, where "electronic gadgets are a way of life."
Camera-phones have been available in Japan for three years, Henning explained, adding that currently in that country, a cell phone without a camera is actually difficult to find. Japanese consumers are carrying more than 30 million camera-phones, he said, compared with less than two million in the United States and Canada.
"The big hurdle (in North America) is interoperability," Henning declared. "Right now, the sender and receiver of a cell-phone image have to be on the same network for instant, peer-to-peer messaging. The hurdle is not technical; it's economic and political.
"It comes down to money and territory," Henning added. "The various carriers have to decide how to divvy up the revenues."
Posted to the site on 12th August 2003
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/9493.php