Where do they get this stuff: Camera phones expected to kill digital cameras?
Call it quits, Nikon; it's over.
(Credit: Crave)File this one under the "I have no basis for my opinion but I'm going to spew it anyway because it may jumpstart my sales" department. File it under the "convention of fools" department while you're at it too.
According to the Carphone Warehouse -- one of the UK's leading retailers of cell phones and services, sales of camera phones will eventually overtake digital cameras and will ultimately lead to the digital camera's demise.
To prove his point, the company's CEO had the following to say: "It's not all about megapixels. There is high consumer demand for gadget convergence - one all-purpose device to replace cameras, MP3 players and PDAs. The next stage in the evolution of the mobile phone is taking the mobile device beyond talking and texting to fulfill this demand."
Hold on, it gets even better: "The digital stills camera is a disappearing breed, in particular at the lower end of the market. Camera phones are much more convenient for capturing spontaneous shots ? people want to be able to take pictures when they want and where they want. The stand alone DSC may not be extinct yet but there is a chance it will join the VHS video tape, the Cine-film recorder and even the film camera as a technology of the past. The photographic market is changing rapidly and the digital camera's position within it is not assured."
Maybe I missed the memo, but this guy is kidding, right? He can't be this foolish. Shall we take a look at why Carphone Warehouse's CEO may take the prize for the dumbest statement made in the past month?
First off, there is no debating the fact that camera phone sales are on the rise. In fact, a study by InfoTrends asserts that camera phone sales could hit 847 million units by 2009. And while that may be enough to make you join sides with CEO of the year, the study also found that the majority of cell phones hitting shelves that year will probably stay in the 3-megapixel range and companies will focus advancements on clarity and zoom.
Suffice it to say, 3-megapixels will not replace a digital camera in any way, shape or form.
But unfortunately for camera phones, high-end D-SLR sales are on the rise and according to recent sales figures, SLRs enjoyed a 39 percent surge in sales over 2006.
If digital cameras on the way out, why are sales increasing? Maybe Carphone Warehouse could explain this to me? I doubt it.
Simply put, the study conducted by the UK firm has no basis in reality and only attempts to solidify its brand through a faulty study. Will camera phone sales increase? Undoubtedly. But will camera phones increase at the expense of digital cameras? I doubt it. After all, just because a cell phone includes a camera, it doesn't mean that people are buying it for that reason. Head down to your local carrier and try to find me more that 3 phones that don't offer a camera and then we'll talk.
Before we call for the end of digital cameras, ask yourself one question: when you bought an iPhone, did you buy it for the camera? When you picked up a Treo, did you do it for the camera? How about a RAZR or a run-of-the-mill LG or even a Samsung phone? Was it all about the camera? Of course not!
People simply don't head down to their local cell phone store and buy a phone just because it offers a camera. More often than not, it does something that others don't or in the case of children, it's "cool" and they wouldn't be embarrassed to bring it to school and show their friends.
But to say that camera phones will have a substantial impact on digital camera sales is plainly ridiculous. Who in their right mind would actually believe this? You mean to tell me, that you would gladly give up your Nikon D-50 or Canon Digital Rebel XT for a cell phone? Or for those who don't go the high-end route, you would actually throw your $300 point-and-shoot away for your camera phone?
Please.
I agree that this business is moving towards convergence, but at what point will that stop? If you ask me, it won't even knock on the door of digital cameras.
Nice one, Carphone Warehouse.
What a joke.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
"The digital stills camera is a disappearing breed, in particular at the LOWER end of the market" My caps.
There is no way the upper end of the digital camera market will shrink. Actually it will expand as it brings high quality and easy photography more cheaply to more people, which is great. So with you on that.
But a lot of people, including me, don't like to carry their 'good' camera around everywhere. So they have a Canon Sureshot or something to slip into a bag when they are going on a trip. It's that 'snapshot' camera that phones will replace. With some phones now offering 8mpx, it's just a matter of time and design. This is what Carphone Warehouse are arguing, and I think they are right. At the average office party I now see no dedicated cameras, just phones. QED.
Even the best camera phones lag way behind moderate range digital cameras from 8-10 years ago. They will always lag behind. CW is right on one account: it's not about the megapixels. Camera phones suck for so many other reasons.
With form factors that keep getting smaller and smaller and functions increasing and increasing, camera phones will never approach the constantly improving subcompact dedicated camera. They are like disposable cameras. Camera phones only benefit is convenience. They remind one of disposable cameras - not used by enough people to make a dent in actual camera sales.
Also, he specifically singled out the LOWER end of the market, a claim you refuted my saying that high end model sales are on the rise! Just look at the picture you have near the article! lol of course cameras like that are not going to be replaced by mobiles.
Actually what he said rings quite true to my head. The lower end of the market will be slowly eaten away by mobile phones, and that bite will extend to the upper ranges even more slowly, as mobile phones have more and more quality. Of course the very top end will also not go away, but, then, it takes so much time for a technology to actually become extinct: they STILL sell vinyl disc readers and film cameras you know.
For a great number of people what matters is not pixel count or quality of colors, but rather just having a camera there and then.
Finally, I don't think people will buy a phone of it's camera. Rather, i think they will come to the conclusion that maybe 400$ for a tad more quality is just not worth it.
ridiculous. It's one of those 'lower end' models that are apparently threatened
by the abysmal quality, lack of control, and lack of a good way to get the
pictures off of a camera phone. Right. The only reason there is a camera in
MY phone, is because it would have been too much more expensive for me to
buy a phone that i wanted that DIDN'T have a camera in it. I don't really want
a camera in my phone. The only good use i've found for it is to turn the flash
on (which stays on...useful) and use it as a flashlight. Works surprisingly well.
On a bigger picture note, convergence is overrated in my opinion. Converged
devices do more and do it much more poorly in most cases. I prefer a
specialized device such as my 8 Gig nano, my Canon camera, and my plain
old LG cell phone as separate devices because they do their primary function
very well. I have no problem carrying them all separately.
Back on the main topic...i wish camera phones would become the dying, or at
least more rare, breed. They'll never supplant the digital camera for any but
the fools who don't care what their pictures actually look like.
- by Lord4U2 December 13, 2007 9:11 AM PST
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- Like this Reply to this comment
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(6 Comments)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaQJAafAltk
Wave Front Coding will over-come older Camera Chips as this new Technology reaches consumers. OmniVision Started selling TrueFocus CameraChips in Feb 06'
The product cycle will reach comsumers soon.
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