I know, I should have posted this on April 25 when it was announced, but such is life and I wanted to make sure to include this because analysts love statistics. The research firm InfoTrends says the most used application of cellular phones is the camera.
Based on its “Camera Phone End-User Survey Analysis,” InfoTrends says, “Although consumers may not be purchasing phones initially for their imaging components, it seems that once they try the camera feature, they are pleasantly surprised by its utility.”
The firm’s press release says, “Of course, as digital cameras on cell phones become more widely available, the function is graduating from a special feature to one of a list of product specifications. InfoTrends’ data shows that 29% of U.S. Internet users now have a camera phone, up from 18% in June of 2005.
“As the market moves towards an early majority phase, behaviors will change accordingly. For example, the number of images captured per month has been cut by more than 60% from 2004 to 2005. The cause of this decline can be attributed to some consumers no longer purchasing camera phones for ‘fun’ and ‘spontaneity,’ but rather because the handset was the most affordable and had the best overall features.”
Driving usage
InfoTrends notes that price and size won’t be as much of a consideration for cellular subscribers who are image-centric. (I can’t wait to test the new 3.2 megapixel Nokia N93.)
The firm also notes younger subscribers are interested in camera phones and they, too, will drive the demand for these handsets and for printing photos.
Ed Lee, the director of InfoTrends, says, “We anticipate that photo activity will continue to rise slightly as the true impact of megapixel camera phones comes into effect. The question is whether the increases in capturing, sharing, and printing can be successfully monetized by vendors.”
Slight rise?
I’m not sure what Lee considers a slight rise, but I’m probably more optimistic. We’re just getting to the point where camera photos and videos are not just “good enough” for certain situations but “good” compared to digital cameras.
I thought one megapixel camera phones would be the tipping point for a huge explosion of use — and printing photos — because the quality would be good enough to print. That resolution didn’t have quite the effect I thought.
We are indeed getting better quality camera phones in the United States, such as the Nokia N70 that I’ve been testing. I’ve been using the N70 for videos that I never would have shot because I don’t own — and still don’t see a need for — a regular camcorder.
Nokia says its N93 3.2 megapixel camera phone, slated for availability this summer (at least in some parts of the world), will offer “DVD-like” video quality. Regardless of whether it offers the quality of a digital camera or camcorder, within the next few years the “slight rise” will, instead, be an explosion of use of camera phone-based still photos and, probably much more dramatic and significant, camera phone videos.
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