November 17, 2005 - Digital imaging market research firm InfoTrends/CAP Ventures projects that worldwide sales of camera phones will soar to 847 million units by 2009, over double this year’s sales of 370 million units. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures also expects a 43 percent compound annual growth rate in camera phone prints in the same period.
Jill Aldort, a Senior Consultant at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, also projected the kind of technological trends that would emerge over the next four years. “8 megapixel camera phones [i.e. Samsung’s SPH-V8200] are already on the market, just 2 years after the first 1 megapixel appeared,” she said. “However, multi-megapixel models will appeal to just a few consumers who are willing to pay a premium price. Instead, we believe the mainstream market will level off at the 3 megapixel point, and the megapixel race will slow in favor of advancements in optics and lenses.”
InfoTrends/CAP Ventures also stated that 2005’s hottest markets were the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, though growth in China is still strong.
The full report, “Worldwide Camera Phone and Photo Messaging Forecast: 2004-2009,” contains detailed market data and projections broken down by several regions and categories. It is available at: http://store.infotrendsresearch.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=65326&Click=451 for $3,995 US.
