According to the latest forecast from Lyra's Consumer Imaging Intelligence (CII) service, camera phones have become the most prevalent image-capture devices in the world. Camera phones are certainly popular in the United States, especially among people under 40 years old. Dialing for Pictures: 2006 U.S. Camera Phone User Survey explores the demographics of consumers who own cell phones without camera functionality versus consumers who own camera phones. The report also examines how people use their camera phones; whether they print their camera phone pictures and, if so, where they print them; and how camera phone usage affects digital camera usage.
The survey asked camera phone users to select which of a number of activities they had performed in the previous month using images from their camera phone (multiple responses were permitted). Overwhelmingly, the most popular activity was showing camera phone images to others on the phone's display (see figure). To a lesser extent, users also saved images to their PC, sent them via e-mail or multimedia messaging service (MMS), made photo prints, or shared them online.
This report is essential reading for camera phone and digital camera vendors. It includes information on consumers' perceptions of the advantages of camera phones over digital cameras and vice versa. Respondents were also asked which feature upgrades to camera phones could persuade them to stop using their digital cameras entirely and rely instead on their camera phone for taking all their photos. As camera phones increase in popularity, what consumers do with their images becomes vital to vendors' revenue streams. This report relays information directly from consumers to help vendors make better product decisions.
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