Digicam Sales and Resolution Soar as Prices Sink
It comes as no surprise to us that the digital camera business is literally booming. During 2003 digital cameras truly reached the status of being a mainstream consumer item and all of the number-crunchers out there agree. A recent Business Week Online article is called "Everyone's Smiling for Digital Cameras" and claims that digicam sales on MSN's online shopping mall are up 40-50% vs. last year. As we have heard from many vendors, digital cameras "are on fire" and are the top category for online sellers of consumer electronics goods. During 2003, the sales of digicams has eclipsed that of analog film-based cameras in both market share and dollar value.Old-line camera giants and relative upstarts are facing off in this fiercely competitive market. "Anybody who can find a manufacturer to make a digital camera for them is doing it," says Elliot Peck, director and general manager for camera sales at Canon USA (CAJ). "There's going to be a shakeout over the next couple of years." At the moment, Canon and Sony (SNE) are running neck and neck in the battle for No. 1, each with about 20% of the market, Peck claims. Five players collect more than 75% of total sales: Olympus, Canon, Sony, Kodak (EK), and Fuji (FUJIY).
The biggest winners in this free-for-all are consumers, who are taking more pictures using higher quality cameras that sell for less. "It's really changing consumer behavior with photos," says Michelle Slaughter, director of digital-imaging trends at Norwell (Mass.) tech consultancy InfoTrends. "Before, you might finish a roll every month or take pictures of major events. Now people are sharing their daily lives. You don't have to wait for pictures anymore. It has completely changed the way we view photography."
