Ben
15th April 2005, 05:16 PM
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/14/yourmoney/mobile.html
Nokia, the mobile phone maker, kept its lead in the global camera-phone market last year as shipments of the devices tripled, according to a study made public Thursday.
Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, had 17.8 percent of the 2004 camera-phone market, up from 13.1 percent in 2003, the Boston-based researcher Strategy Analytics said in an e-mailed statement. Motorola increased its share to 16.7 percent from 3.7 percent, passing Samsung Electronics, whose share rose to 13.4 percent from 11.8 percent.
About 257 million camera phones were sold last year, outselling digital still cameras by more than four to one, the researcher said.
More than 350 million camera phones will be sold this year, fueled by demand for new models and improved picture quality, the researcher predicted.
"Global camera-phone sales grew by an impressive 200 percent," the researcher said in the study. "The digital still camera market is running out of steam."
Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and competitors like Siemens are introducing camera phones with picture quality that is challenging that of digital still cameras.
Sales of digital still cameras increased 40 percent last year to 68 million units, the researcher said.
Nokia, the mobile phone maker, kept its lead in the global camera-phone market last year as shipments of the devices tripled, according to a study made public Thursday.
Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, had 17.8 percent of the 2004 camera-phone market, up from 13.1 percent in 2003, the Boston-based researcher Strategy Analytics said in an e-mailed statement. Motorola increased its share to 16.7 percent from 3.7 percent, passing Samsung Electronics, whose share rose to 13.4 percent from 11.8 percent.
About 257 million camera phones were sold last year, outselling digital still cameras by more than four to one, the researcher said.
More than 350 million camera phones will be sold this year, fueled by demand for new models and improved picture quality, the researcher predicted.
"Global camera-phone sales grew by an impressive 200 percent," the researcher said in the study. "The digital still camera market is running out of steam."
Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and competitors like Siemens are introducing camera phones with picture quality that is challenging that of digital still cameras.
Sales of digital still cameras increased 40 percent last year to 68 million units, the researcher said.