As the digital frame market continues to evolve we are actually starting to see how the devices are becoming a more central part of consumer’s lives, similar to the way the cellphone evolved from “cool convenience” to “must-have” CE device.
From the ability to simply display images in slideshow form on various size LCD screens to delivery of instantaneous up-to-date information on weather, news, stock quotes, and advertisements, the digital frame is just beginning to realize its full potential.
According to a recent report conducted by IMS Research, the category exploded in 2007 accounting for more than $648 million in retail revenue in the U.S.
IMS Research analyst Mark Meza recently stated, “The converged digital home is evolving at such a rapid pace that a niche market has been created for a product designed and fashioned specifically for accentuating the home décor and not necessarily as an extension of the traditional home entertainment center. CE manufacturers and component suppliers are betting that the driving force behind the growth of this market will continue to be the potential for DPFs to not only provide a slideshow of images and video clips commemorating memorable events, but to also function as information display devices.”
The category was slow to develop when the first models hit the market at the turn of the century, most of which were high-priced with fairly complicated user interfaces. This market seemed to turn the corner in 2006 as manufactures began producing more attractive, more affordable and easier to use models with a wide array of feature sets. As 2008 heads into Q2, the sky appears to be the limit for this category now.
“The potential exists for a single home to have a DPF as the centerpiece in each room, with the dual function of being a digital display and a real-time information source. This adds huge potential for market growth as DPFs develop into much more than a one-time purchase of a ‘dumb display device’ that sits on the mantle in the background of the living room,” adds Meza. Wireless technologies are poised to play a major role in driving the transition of the DPF market from single one-time purchases for friends and family, to mass adoption via multiple repeat purchases for a single user’s home.
While the move toward a more “full-service” device is intriguing, the digital frame market continues to dazzle for the reasons the product was originally intended, as an image display device.
Pandigital’s (www.pandigital.net) most recent effort in this category is being pushed strictly as a kitchen accessory – and includes both a 15-inch LCD TV screen and a digital photo frame. The screen also includes access to a digital cookbook. The unit, dubbed the Pandigital Kitchen HDTV/Digital Cookbook/Digital Photo Frame, is said to be the first of its kind and is scheduled to be introduced in June at a suggested retail price of $399.99
Kodak (ww.Kodak.com) has also made a serious play in this category, recently adding new 10-inch and 8-inch multimedia models along with a 7-inch standard photo version. One of the newer twists here is something Kodak calls the Quick Touch Border that allows for simple operation with a touch or slide of your finger, while leaving the screen fingerprint and smudge-free.
Hi-Touch (HiTi) Imaging is yet another relative newcomer to this category with the very basic K65, a 7-inch DPF that simply displays digital images – imagine that. The big attraction here their claim of “high-definition” clarity. The images are actually displayed at 800×480 resolution and it certainly appears as though HiTi (www.hitouchimaging.com) has one of the sharper frames on the market. Not a bad feature to push, this HD LCD, as the market is moving in so many new directions – there might just be a big audience for a frame that displays really clear images in the ever-popular 3:2 (think 4×6-inch print) aspect ratio. The $100 (approx) price tag carries some serious appeal as well – www.hitouchimaging.com.
The fact that many consumers have yet to address an effective way to properly store and organize their digital image files and are instead letting them pile up on their computer hard drives has certainly helped this category’s recent surge. The product is getting millions of images out of the “black hole” of a PC’s drive and back into consumer’s lives to enjoy. While many in the industry originally claimed this product would ultimately hurt the retail print business, several are now claiming otherwise.
“Images that are stored on a PC’s hard drive will rarely if ever get printed,” began retail analysts Lauren Sosik. “While images presented on a digital frame are seem by family and friends and are often times printed as a result of someone simply asking ‘hey, I like that image, can I get that printed?’.”
With Mother’s Day just around the corner, the category should enjoy another big boost as the numbers for that holiday in 2007 were astonishing. The NPD Group reported that the category did over $12 million is U.S. sales for Mother’s Day week with over 112,000 units sold. The figures actually bested the numbers generated during the 2006 holiday selling season for the category.
