Report: Cameraphones to generate innovation

The U.S. mobile imaging market is expected to generate more than $500 million in revenues in 2013, according to a new report form research firm Parks Associates.
The company said it believes the mobile imaging market will grow beyond photo-sharing services to include personalized content management and social network applications. In addition, the study found consumers are willing to pay for imaging enhancements on their cellphone like photo-editing capabilities, comparison shopping and social networking services.
Parks said about 70% of handsets sold in the United States by 2013 will include a camera of at least two megapixels.
“Recent trends, including the launch of Google’s Android MarketPlace and Apple’s success with the App Store, have revived interest in the camera phone platform among carriers, handset makers, and application developers,” said Harry Wang, director of Parks’ Health and Mobile Product Research.
“Handset makers and mobile carriers will need to embrace a more consumer-centric business model in application development and marketing,” continued Wang. “Consumers want to do more with their phones, which makes this area fertile for service innovation.”