contact us     help    login  

Online Photo Sharing to Drive Mass Market Scanner Sales

(Weymouth, MA) April, 24 2000... Photo sharing through commercial photo-sharing Web sites, personal Web sites, and email is expected to drive sales of mass market scanners. One of the year's hottest trends, online photo sharing, is allowing users to employ their scanners in new and exciting ways. This will contribute to the estimated 12.4 million scanners expected to ship in 2000, a 25% increase over 1999. Shipments will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19% through 2005.

The enormous growth of online photo communities represents a new opportunity for scanner vendors. Consumers can expect to see scanner vendors bundling memberships to online photo communities or providing a scan-to-Web button on the scanner. These features offer consumers the necessary bridge between traditional prints and digital photos.

"The viral nature of photo sharing is driving more and more consumers to want to share their photos over the Internet," says Janet Kauffman, research analyst for InfoTrends Research Group. "Scanners provide an inexpensive and relatively easy way for consumers to digitize photos for sharing over the Web or through e-mail. With an estimated 33% penetration in U.S. Internet households, scanners have tremendous potential to drive traffic to photo sharing sites."

Although unit sales are projected to grow through 2005, revenues are projected to peak in 2002 at $1.75 billion, and begin declining slightly though 2005. Falling prices, due to lower production costs and heavy competition will drive down scanner revenues. Vendors will maintain profit growth through product differentiation, more efficient manufacturing methods, and new low cost technologies.

InfoTrends' new forecast report, titled "2000 Mass Market Scanner Forecast - North America," identifies the drivers and barriers to mass market scanners. Key issues and trends are covered, such as declining average prices, PC bundling and channel conflicts, and profiles of major market players. The report forecasts shipments, revenues, average selling prices, installed base, and penetration on PCs in North America through 2005. It also forecasts shipments by price segment, interface type, sensor type, bit depth, resolution, and operating system in North America through 2005. The report is available immediately in both hard copy and electronic format.