According to a new report from InfoTrends entitled Worldwide Camera Phone Forecast: 2007-2012, worldwide shipments of camera phones will jump from over 700 million units in 2007 to surpass 1.3 billion in 2012. This growth will be driven largely by the Asia-Pacific and ROW regions, where revenues will increase at respective CAGRs of 15 percent and 24 percent.
While Europe has been camera phone-centric for many years, the biggest boost to unit shipments will come from the Eastern Europe, Middle Eastern, and African regions, as more camera phone players will compete to capture a share of these developing markets.
InfoTrends’ Senior Research Analyst Carrie Sylvester commented, “The developing countries are less congested, with fewer competitors and price wars, making this an excellent time to take the camera phone to those consumers. Vendors will face many of the same obstacles in these newer markets that they overcame in mature markets, such as subsidization, government bureaucracy, and the initially high prices that persisted until mobile phones with cameras became ubiquitous. Nevertheless, it will be worth their while to focus on these regions.”
Additional growth in the worldwide camera phone market can be found in the higher resolution segments (5+ megapixels). These phones are making their way to North American shores, but they will not begin making serious waves until wireless carriers are willing to subsidize and support them. InfoTrends believes that in addition to spurring an increase in camera phone ownership, the availability of higher resolution phones will cause an upsurge in camera phone photographic behaviors such as taking, sharing, printing, and storing photos.
The report provides a five-year growth projection for the worldwide camera phone market, segmented by North America, EMEA, Japan, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. The report offers forecasts for hardware shipments, installed base, and revenue. Market drivers and barriers are also examined. Visit InfoTrends’ online store or contact Michelle Boczanowski at 781-616-2100 ext. 109 or via e-mail at michelle_boczanowski@infotrends.com for more information on this report.
