Gartner: 48% of cellular phones to have cameras in 2006, 81% by 2010

Gartner says 48 percent of cellular phones will incorporate cameras this year and 81 percent will have them by 2010, according to the research group's press release.

Gartner says 460 million camera phones will be sold in 2006 -- a 43 percent increase from last year and almost 300 percent since 2004.  If the trend continues, 1 billion camera phones will be sold in 2010.

I've talked to handset manufacturers and read research reports.  Depending on who's doing the research, there are either 1 billion camera phones worldwide today or there will be by 2007 or 2008.   

Megapixel count

Gartner forecasts 51 percent of camera phones sold this year will be at least one megapixel.   More than half the phones sold next year will have one or two megapixels.

The largest market for camera phones is Western Europe, followed by North America, Gartner says.   In Western Europe sales this year will be more than 122 million, an increase of 28 percent from 2005.

Carolina Milanesi, a principal research analyst at Gartner, says in the press release, "In 2006, 1.3 and two megapixel resolutions will become the minimum requirement for mid-tier to high-end phones and a 3.2 megapixel resolution will be used for flagship products.  This will increase to five megapixels in 2007."

North America

The camera phone market in North America this year will reach 106.8 million units in 2006, an increase of 41 percent increase from 2005.

The release says, "North America experienced outstanding growth over the past few years and the most interesting evolution in the market has been the growth of megapixel imaging, which will grow from five million units in 2005 to 45 million units in 2006."

Camera phone sales this year in the Asia Pacific region will total 160.7 million handsets.

Japanese market

Almost every cellular phone sold in Japan today has a camera.   Gartner says camera phones will represent 95 percent of sales in 2007.

Gartner says, "Over the past twelve months, there has been a strong demand for non-camera-embedded devices in Japan, which encouraged operators to introduce them in their portfolios."

By 2010 Western Europe will equal Japan’s penetration levels to reach 93.6 percent followed by North America at 93.4 percent.

Cameras as a given

Milanesi says, "A camera is a feature that consumers expect to see in new devices whether they are interested in using it or not."

She notes that the race continues for increasing the number of megapixels, although consumers prefer small phones.  (The smaller the phone, the smaller the components, and the more difficult it becomes to produce high quality images.)

The need to keep the size small is sparking companies to explore a variety of solutions, including liquid lenses.

"This technology is capable of creating sharp pictures in ways very similar to the human eye and offering several advantages like size,cost, speed and durability," Garter says.

[Sent via TypePad wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry 8700g]

Comments

[Rodger Raderman]

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Kindest regards,

Rodger Raderman