InfoTrends/CAP Ventures projects that worldwide camera phone shipments will have grown from 178 million units in 2004 to close to 900 million units in 2009. By the end of 2009, camera phones are expected to account for 89 percent of all mobile phone handsets shipped.
Primary drivers behind this explosion are improvements in imaging functions (i.e. image sensors, zoom, auto focus); rapid declines in prices for this functionality; higher-speed wireless bandwidth; and easier-to-use handsets, services, and peripherals. InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ new multi-client study entitled Mobile Imaging: Technology Trends, Consumer Behavior, and Business Strategies explores this explosive market.
"Society is moving into an era of ubiquitous imaging that offers the ability to capture, store, send, print, and view an image anywhere," commented Jeff Hayes, a Director at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. "We believe mobile imaging will have the kind of impact that e-mail had on document communications in the 1990s. We project that the total number of images captured on camera phones will reach 227 billion by 2009, exceeding the number of photos taken on digital still cameras and film cameras combined!"
