THE RAPIDLY CHANGING WAY CONSUMERS TAKE PICTURES
The arrival of excellent, yet highly affordable digital still cameras together with the more recent introduction of camera phones has completely revolutionised picture taking. Not only has there been a dramatic increase in the number of photos being taken, but there has also been a dramatic swing away from traditional film photography.
It is predicted (Understanding &Solutions) that by 2009 56 billion photos per annum will be taken in Western Europe (a THREEFOLD increase when compared with circa 18 billion in 2004) and that an estimated 73 % of these will be from camera phones, 23 % will be from digital still cameras and only 4 % will be from film cameras.
Clearly then the growth in the digital photo market is closely linked with that of the camera phone market. It is estimated (Understanding &Solutions) that 85% of all mobile phones sold in the UK now have built in cameras. Infotrends suggest that in Western Europe, the majority of camera phones will have a minimum resolution of 3M pixels, which is equivalent to the digital camera resolution in 2005. In Western Europe, U&S suggest that there will be sales of 75M camera phones with a minimum resolution of 3M pixels in 2008, TWO AND A HALF TIMES the number of Digital Still Cameras
Lyra Research forecasts that as the installed base of digital-capture devices grows, the number of digital images captured will explode. The number of captured images worldwide grew MORE THAN FOURFOLD from <50billion in 2002 to >200billion in 2005, and will then more than DOUBLE by 2009, with close to 500 billion digital images being captured.
Lyra forecasts that the worldwide installed base of camera phones will TREBLE from 0.5 billion in 2005 to 1.5billion in 2009. This will be more than double the number of digital still cameras.
While it concedes that the digital camera market in Western Europe will grow at much lower rates, it forecasts around 30 million units over the same period.
The
continued health of the camera market will be underpinned by significant
innovation in features, and increasing chip resolutions, coupled with hardware
price declines, fuelling early and frequent camera replacement. This, will in
turn, translate to an increasing number in shutter clicks.
PrintPod Limited believes that the key growth opportunity is camera phones, which accounted for virtually no images taken in‘02 but (according to industry predictions) will account for 60 -70% of total pictures taken in ’09.
However, we do not overstate the importance of camera phones. Digital cameras will remain the dominant devices that consumers use to capture imagesthey care enough about to print.
THE RAPIDLY CHANGING WAY CONSUMERS MAKE PRINTS
In addition to stimulating growth in the number of photos being taken, the use of digital technology has made a significant impact on the photo processing market by offering consumers more choice.
As well as using retail outlets, large numbers of consumers now have the additional options of printing at home without the need for specialist equipment and facilities, or not printing at all!.
According to Infotrends, about half of Western European digital camera users now print photos at retail. According
to a Dec 07 Infotrends survey, about 25% of Western European digital camera users’ images
are printed. According to Infotrends, digital camera users in Western Europe
capture 67 pictures pcm.
Infotrends forecasts that printing photos at retail iwill grow at a compound
annual rate of 14% p.a until 2011. The survey indicates that retail printing in
2007 will be the second largest segment, at 34% of prints made. By 2011 it will
dominate the digital photo processing market by with its market share overtaking
home printing to account for 45% of prints made.
As with analogue, the decision where to print is convenience driven. For this reason, just over half of all pictures are printed at home. However, the survey suggests that consumers worry about the costs associated with printing at home,and recognise retail printing as offering better quality. The survey confirms a real shift from home printing, in favour of kiosk printing.
Infotrends estimate that retail printing will grow at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% over the next three years, whereas home printing will show a negative CAGR of -2%.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSTANT PRINT KIOSKS
PrintPod Limited believes that in addressing the convenience issue, by siting kiosks in locations that fit well with consumers’ regular shopping patterns,making the process simple, quick and fun, and being available in locations with good opening hours, many consumers will become loyal to using the PrintPod kiosk.
PMA data suggest that these regular users of instant print kiosks (who will tend to be female) will then make 24 prints every six weeks or so.
This PMA data offers a great rule of thumb test. For every 24 prints per day you wish to achieve, you will need to attract 42 of these "loyal"customers (these customers on average order 24 prints every 42 days). You can divide 42 by the total number of customers you have to see if this is a reasonable function.