Cell Phones Are Growing As Camera Of Choice

I was reading an article today in the June/July 2008 issue of AfterCapture magazine about Apple’s new iPhone 3G, that will be available this Friday, July 11, 2008, about it’s growing capability (along with it’s integration with iTunes) to be a precursor whereby photographs are ‘registered’, purchased, and payment received  (transferred via iTunes and PayPal, for example, directly into your bank account) all via your iPhone by a press of a button.  Wow.  [Really, Google's emerging Android mobile platform would also support this kind of growing ability where the common cell phone is no longer 'common', but rather a powerful mobile computer with broadband, full-functioning access to the Internet.] 

The AfterCapture article also intrigued me as it spoke of the iPhone’s growing capabilities as a “work horse” computer with a 2.0 megapixel camera (albeit somewhat limited with no zoom or flash).  So, I did a little search and found that cell phones are now entering the market with 2.0 – 3.0 megapixel camera’s standard and rumors of much larger capacities by this 2008 holiday season.  Unthinkable just a few months ago. 

Additionally, Wirefly.com released the fascinating results of its new behavioral survey on consumer camera phone usage, showing significant penetration of cell phones as the camera of choice for young adults in the U.S.

Compiled through a survey of thousands of adult cell phone users in the U.S. (some highlights of the survey details below), the survey illustrated the growth and increasingly diverse uses of cell phone cameras. 45.9% of respondents report using their cell phone cameras at least once a week – with many saying they snap a photo with their cell phone every day.

Other interesting results from the full pool of respondents include:

• A whopping 96.3% of adult cell phone owners report that they have a cell phone with a camera.
• 19% of adults prefer to use their cell phone as their primary camera for all photography.
• 77.2% of photos taken remain stored in the phone, 45.4% are used as wallpaper and 38.6% are sent to friends via MMS.
• 20.2% of respondents say they have snapped a photo of an attractive man/woman, and 7.5% have photographed an unsuspecting stranger.
• 46.4% of all adults and 2/3 of adults age 18-30 say that they use their cell phone to snap self-portraits.
• 19.8% say they have snuck a picture while pretending to do something else.

“Camera phones are taking over, and it’s being driven by young adults,” said Scott Ableman, Wirefly’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. “High-quality cell phone cameras haven’t been around that long, yet nearly one in five cell phone buyers tell us that their cell phone is their primary camera.”

“Sharing and social media are the drivers,” said Ableman. “Fifty-eight percent of adults age 18-30 tell us they use their camera phones to document nightlife, and one in five say they’ve published camera phone pictures to a social website or blog. It’s a more spontaneous kind of photography that’s perfectly suited for the cell phone, and as more low-priced and free phones come with quality cameras and high-speed internet connections, all barriers have been removed.”

Incredible.  What do you think about all of this?  How about a 10 megapixel cell phone with flash?

 

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