Although many agree the swift ascent of camera phones will cut into the market for digital cameras and traditional film, the camera-phone industry could also provide a new avenue of growth for well-known companies that have centered their businesses around imaging and images.
“We view camera phones as an opportunity,” said Dave Geary, senior vice president of Kodak Mobile. “Kodak is committed to providing consumer choice.”
Indeed, it seems consumers are choosing camera phones in droves. According to research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics, 84 million camera phones were shipped worldwide last year vs. 49 million digital still cameras. Further, the firm said more than half of all camera phones will have a resolution of at least 1 megapixel by 2006.
The stunning rise of the camera-phone market has largely benefited camera-phone makers and parts suppliers. Indeed, the mobile-phone market is on track to surpass 600 million units this year, thanks in part to massive camera-phone sales. Others looking to take advantage of the camera-phone phenomena are wireless carriers, content providers and upstart technology companies.
One interesting segment of the camera-phone market involves well-known imaging players. Kodak, which sells digital processing services, traditional film products and other imaging offerings, formed its Mobile group several years ago to cash in on camera phones. The Kodak Mobile service allows users to upload and store their camera-phone images and then print them out at participating retail outlets.
“The goal of the Kodak Mobile service is to build the simplest and easiest way to use your camera- phone pictures,” Geary said.
Kodak Mobile is based around an online photo storage site. The site can be accessed through a standard Internet connection as well as through a mobile-phone WAP connection. Kodak has signed deals with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. to offer access to the site for a monthly fee, billed through subscribers’ statements, and Verizon Wireless is gearing up to offer similar access. Users of other carriers can access the service by paying a monthly fee through the Internet. Further, Kodak has announced a deal with Nokia Corp. to install links to the Kodak Mobile service in Nokia camera phones.
Geary explained that the service allows users to store camera-phone images on Kodak Mobile servers, and then access and share those images. Users can also print the images at participating Kodak in-store kiosks using infrared, Bluetooth or removable memory cards. Geary said the company is also working on a system that would allow users to transmit their photo to a kiosk as a picture message.
“We really want to make it one-button easy,” he said.
Photo mainstay Fujifilm is working on similar efforts. John Prendergast, vice president of Fujifilm’s strategic business development, said the company offers a photo finishing and printing service for camera phones. Available mainly in Japan, the company’s technology allows camera-phone users to connect to image printing kiosks through Bluetooth, infrared and removable memory cards. In the United States, Fujifilm teamed with AWS to offer a photo storage and sharing service, and in July the company plans to offer a photo printing service through Sprint PCS. The printing service will allow camera-phone users to transmit their images to in-store Fujifilm kiosks and then pick up the printouts. Prendergast said the system is more efficient than competing services from DotPhoto and others, which mail printed photos back to the user.
“People want to go to the photo finishers,” Prendergast said. “They don’t want to wait five days” for the picture to arrive in the mail.
However, image printing is only part of Fujifilm’s activities in wireless. The company also sells sensor and lens modules to camera-phone makers including Mitsubishi and others, and it sells image-sharing software to wireless carriers including NTT DoCoMo Inc.
“Imaging is a lifeblood for us,” Prendergast explained. “Camera phones are going to generate a tremendous amount of images. That creates a great opportunity to get more images printed. We don’t see it (camera phones) as a threat.”
Others may, however.
“The digital camera makers are very concerned about camera phones cutting into their business,” said Alan Reiter, president of the Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing consultancy firm.
“In the clearest sign yet of mobile digital convergence, NEC, Nokia, Samsung and Panasonic all outsold Sony, the world’s largest digital still camera vendor, in 2003,” said David Kerr, vice president of Strategy Analytics’ Global Wireless Practice. “Only Sony/Sony Ericsson and Samsung, of the major traditional digital still camera vendors, are positioned to exploit massive camera-phone growth through the end of the decade. Those digital still camera vendors without a strong cellular division or wireless partner, such as Olympus, will find themselves under increasing competitive pressure in the long-term.”
Reiter said such pressure will be focused on the low-end digital camera market.
