August 13, 2007 – Market and research firm InfoTrends last week reported it expects online photo finishing to double in the next four years. Last year, photo printing services made $450 million in revenue from prints. InfoTrends predicts that number will exceed $1 billion by 2011.
In the report “Online Photo Services Market Forecast: 2006-2011,” InfoTrends surveyed a number of online photo printing sites, including Flickr, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Snapfish by HP, Wal-Mart, Target, Shutterfly, and Sony ImageStation. The research firm found that the number of subscribing members that upload images online will rise 13 percent from 2006 to 2011.
InfoTrends attributes the growth in photo site members and online printing to a shift from retail to online printing and the stabilizing prices of prints.
“As retail activity increases, online photo services may become more of a conduit to retail fulfillment. Financially, these businesses may be faced with revenue sharing deals instead of enjoying manufacturer’s margins on everything they sell,” said InfoTrends Associate Director Alan Bullock in a press release.
“On the other hand, there are still many new customers to be gained, and retail partnerships such as those recently announced between Shutterfly and Target, Kodak Gallery and Best Buy, and Kodak Gallery and Target, can expose many more consumers to available products and services, and should result in overall growth,” he said.
