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(Weymouth, MA) May, 20 2002... Nearly half of all photo kiosks to be shipped in 2002 will be designed exclusively for digital camera users, according to a new report from InfoTrends Research Group. This is a dramatic change from last year when only 16% of photo kiosk shipments were digital camera exclusive. "As digital camera users begin to use photo kiosks, print volumes on photo kiosks will increase dramatically," says Kerry Flatley, research analyst. "Our research shows that currently photo kiosks are mainly used by customers making just a few copies or enlargements from prints. Digital camera customers, on the other hand, will use photo kiosks as a high-volume source for their original photo prints." While the print volume at photo kiosks will increase, growth in the installed base of photo kiosks is expected to be modest, reaching 33,000 in 2006. Sales of replacement units will contribute to an 8% compound annual growth rate in unit shipments. Future photo kiosk developments include placement in more convenient locations, faster print speeds, and connectivity to the Internet or to local digital minilab equipment. With more user education and awareness, these improvements will attract more digital camera users to print at retail instead of at home. As of November 2001, only 9% of U.S. photo kiosk users had printed from digital photo files and only a small percentage of those were from digital cameras. Furthermore, in the coming year, photofinishing retailers will increasingly adopt in-store digital minilabs to print images from digital camera memory cards. Unit shipments of digital minilabs are expected to double this year as more retailers make the transition from analog to digital technology. InfoTrends' new report, "Photo Kiosk and Retail Digital Photofinishing Forecast," available immediately, contains five-year projections for photo kiosk and digital minilab unit shipments, consumer end user data, analysis of market dynamics, profiles of 21 top photofinishing retailers, and profiles of key players including Agfa, Applied Science Fiction, Digital Portal, ePoint, Fujifilm, Gretag, Kodak, Konica, Noritsu, Olympus, Phogenix Imaging, and Pixel Magic. A related report, "2002 Digital Camera Forecast," is available separately. |
