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(Weymouth, MA) July, 12 2000... A new study from InfoTrends Research Group projects that the European Low End digital camera market (sub-1,000 Euro) is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 55% through 2005. Unit sales will grow from over 3.8 million to reach nearly 19 million in 2005. Revenues generated from digital camera sales will reach 1.2 billion Euro and grow at a compound annual rate of 24% to reach 3.6 billion Euro in 2005. Revenue growth will begin to flatten due to rapidly falling prices for digital cameras. In fact, the market for sub-200 Euro digital cameras will exceed 10 million units in 2005. These figures do not include toy digital cameras. Over the next five years, European mainstream consumers will adopt digital cameras. In fact, digital camera sales will surpass film camera sales (not including one-time use cameras) within this forecast period. "The European market is often characterized as solely demanding superior image quality and high resolution. However, it is now ready to adopt digital cameras that offer basic point & shoot capabilities and deliver sufficient image quality for sharing digital photos via the Internet," says Michelle Lampmann, market research analyst for InfoTrendsResearch Group. "This turning point is a result of the increasing PC penetration and Internet connectivity." In 2000, industry sources show that PC penetration in Western European households will exceed 30%, and over 65 million Western Europeans will be connected to the Internet. In addition, the Western European market is ripe for wireless imaging solutions. In 1999, 47% of Western European households owned a cell phone. Though only a small percentage of these users can access the Internet through their cell phone, over the next five-years, this will become much more common. Already, a few digital camera vendors are offering wireless imaging services in Europe. Olympus, Kodak and Fuji are the digital camera market leaders in Europe. These vendors capture a combined share of approximately 55%. Since 1997, Olympus has been the leader in the market by a margin of at least 10-percentage points. However, in 2000, other vendors are becoming much more competitive, and the gap is closing. Vendors such as Agfa are targeting first-time buyers with sub-200 Euro digital cameras. The European market for digital cameras is quickly progressing beyond early adopters. The UK, Germany and France are the three largest markets for digital cameras in Europe, together representing almost 70% of the total market. Through 2005, these countries will remain the largest markets for digital cameras, due to their population size, strong per capita GDP and technology adoption rates. The new report, "2000 European Low End Digital Camera Forecast," covers major trends in the sub-1,000 Euro digital camera market, and includes a five-year market forecast for digital camera unit shipments, revenues, vendor market share and unit shipments for eight major regions in Western Europe, including Germany, UK, France, Italy, Benelux, Iberia, Scandinavia and the Rest of Europe. This forecast projects digital camera sales by price segment: point & shoot (200 - 1,000 Euro) and entry-level (up to 199 Euro). The forecast also analyzes resolution trends by price segment. Additionally, the forecast provides projections for digital camera unit sales compared to film camera sales for six regions, including Western Europe, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Iberia. The report is available immediately in hard copy and electronic format. |
