Digital Cameras Invade Connected Homes
Ownership could surge past 60 percent of wired homes in 2003.Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com
Film camera diehards beware: Digital cameras are infiltrating many households. And cameras under $300 are leading the charge.
A new study released Tuesday by InfoTrends Research Group suggests digital cameras will soon overtake the mainstream camera market, leaving film cameras as a niche product. Besides falling prices and ease of use, digital cameras owe their rise in large part to people's urge to share photos over the Internet.
About 33 percent of all Internet-connected households now own a digital camera, according to the study, which surveyed 1850 U.S. Internet households in November 2001. That's up from about 25 percent last year. InfoTrends estimates about 61 percent of the approximately 107 million households in the United States have an Internet connection.
By the end of 2002 a staggering 60 percent of Internet-connected households could own a digital camera, says Michelle Slaughter, market research analyst at InfoTrends.
Of those households that own a digital camera, about 19 percent already say they no longer use a film camera at all. That's up from about 10 percent the same time last year, the study says.
Only about 20 percent of those Internet-connected households surveyed have yet to consider a digital camera purchase. And only 3 percent have not yet heard of digital cameras at all, the study states.
Reproduction Wait
While digital cameras obviously appeal to a large number of computer owners, there appear to be a few areas that are still holding back full-scale adoption, Slaughter says.
The key to growth will be improved digital reproduction services in retail stores, she says. People want to be able to bring in their digital media and get top-quality prints. While some stores offer digital kiosks with these services, they're not quite up to speed yet, plus they tend to be too pricey, she explains.
The other major inhibitor is people's aversion to the learning curve involved, she says. People aren't sure they'll know how to use the camera, how to connect it to the PC, or how to create prints at home.
"There are still some Internet users who don't consider themselves technically savvy," she says.
Price Still An Issue
Digital camera prices also remain a factor for many computer users, she notes. Many digital cameras sell for less than $500; but the median price of cameras purchased in 2001 was $300, she says. Those surveyed who plan to buy a digital camera in 2002 also expect to spend about $300.
For that $300 most people will end up buying a 2 or 3 megapixel camera, Slaughter says. These cameras offer good image quality, but not top-notch, she notes.
Image quality has been a major barrier for film camera users. But the rapid improvement in digital camera resolutions has diminished many film user reservations, especially since digital users can edit images and create prints themselves.
However, while digital camera owners can expect to save money on film developing, there's a good chance they'll have to spend more money up front, she says. For example, most new digital camera buyers also must consider the price of additional storage media, and perhaps a new printer so they can reproduce their photos, she explains.
All told, even a modest digital camera outfit can become an expensive proposition, although there are plenty of ways to save money when buying and using a digital camera. With decent point-and-shoot film cameras selling for $150 or less, however, digital cameras simply won't win with all buyers, she says.
A Hot Seller
That said, the current economic downturn seems to have had little impact on digital camera sales, she says.
InfoTrends expected digital camera sales to dip below its original estimates for the third and fourth quarter of 2001. But as the official numbers come in, they appear to be close to those original estimates.
"Digital cameras were one of the top-selling consumer electronics products in 2001," she says.
And InfoTrends expects that trend to continue, she says. While Slaughter admits that estimates of 60 percent of all Internet homes owning digital cameras by 2002 may be optimistic, she is confident that more computer users will begin to see their value.
"There is just so much interest in communicating with photos through the Internet," she says. And over the next two years, technology, services, and prices will all converge, leading to a massive adoption of digital cameras, she predicts.