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  Mobile Imaging: Technology Trends and Consumer Behavior

Introduction

Two of the biggest opportunities in consumer electronics over the past ten years have been mobile phones and digital cameras. Continued advances in technology and data services have created a new category of product, the camera phone. With sales of each product category exploding, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures estimates there will be nearly 300 million digital image capture devices in use worldwide this year.

In December of 2004, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures released a study entitled Mobile Imaging: Technology Trends, Consumer Behavior, and Business Strategies. This worldwide study explores this explosive market, providing companies with a global perspective on consumer behavior in each of the major markets for mobile imaging. This study is designed to help digital camera and mobile handset manufacturers; wireless service providers; and photo printing equipment, services, and supplies vendors succeed in this market.  

Research for the study included interviews with 6,360 consumers across four major geographic regions, namely North America, Western Europe (U.K., France, Germany, and Spain), Japan, and China.

Worldwide Camera Phone Market

The camera phone market is exploding as consumers quickly gravitate to the mobile imaging value proposition of convenience, connectivity, and ubiquity. Mobile phones provide anytime, anywhere communications, while imaging provides pleasure through capturing and sharing unexpected and special moments in life. Integrating these capabilities into a single handset has created a new product segment that will have a profound impact on the communications and imaging industries.

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures projects that worldwide camera phone shipments will grow from 178 million units in 2004 to over 860 million units in 2009. By 2009, camera phones are expected to account for 89% of all mobile phone handsets shipped.

 Figure 1: Worldwide Mobile Phone and Camera Phone Shipments (M)

Primary drivers behind this explosion are improvements in imaging functions (i.e. image sensors, zoom, and auto focus); rapid declines in prices for this functionality; higher-speed wireless bandwidth; and easier-to-use handsets, services, and peripherals. 

Camera Phones and the Printing Industry

A critical issue is the extent to which consumers store, share, and/or print their camera phone images. Each of these activities creates new business opportunities and requires different strategies. The vast majority of Japanese camera phone owners (nearly 90%) indicated that they print none of their camera phone pictures. The mean percentage of photos printed is only 1.3%.

 Figure 2: Phone Pictures Stored, Sent, Printed – Region

The most common reason indicated by consumers for not printing more of their camera phone pictures was the low image quality or small size of the image. Only about 35% of the North American consumers cited this factor, suggesting that consumers in this region may be less quality-sensitive than those in other regions. China had the highest percentage of respondents that indicated print quality as a reason for not printing many camera phone pictures, followed by Japan and Western Europe. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures believes that the percentage of prints will increase as the next generation of camera phones (with higher resolutions and other camera functions) hits the market.

 Figure 3: Reasons for Not Printing More Camera Phone Photos – Region

Over 30% of users in North America and Western Europe cited the high cost of printing as an inhibitor. The cost of home printing has been coming down significantly over the past year, which may stimulate a higher percentage of photos printed.

In the developed markets, home printing of camera phone images dominates. Consumers from North America, Western Europe, and Japan indicated that they produce an average of 75% of these images on home printers. They print another 8% on printers at work, suggesting that about 83% of all camera phone images in the developed markets are printed on desktop printers (most of which are inkjet). 

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures believes that consumers are often only printing a few photos from their camera phones, and that the home printer offers the convenience and immediate gratification that is desired. In addition, consumers may be less price-sensitive about printing only one or two photos on their home printer versus printing a large number of DSC images that were taken while on vacation or at some family event.

The preceding is an excerpt from InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ study entitled “Mobile Imaging: Technology Trends, Consumer Behavior, and Business Strategies.” The complete study is available immediately. For more information on this and other InfoTrends/CAP Ventures reports or to make a purchase, please visit our online report store at https://store.infotrendsresearch.com/ or contact Alison Hipp at (781) 616-2100, ext. 126 or alison_hipp@capv.com.

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