Gartner Says 66 Percent of Mobile Phones Sold in Western Europe Will Have Embedded Camera by 2006
Egham, UK, 11 June 2003 — Camera phones are set to drive mobile handset upgrades and according to new research from Gartner 66 percent of mobile phones sold in Western Europe will offer an embedded camera feature by 2006. This compares to 9 percent in 2003. Clip on cameras will only remain a small proportion of the market, 1.5% of mobile terminal sales in 2006.
"The initial shortage of camera chipsets and colour displays, caused by component manufacturers under-estimating demand, that has been putting pressure on the average price of embedded camera phones has now been resolved. This, combined with promotions that operators are running in Western Europe to promote Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), mean that prices have started to come down, making camera phones more affordable" says Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner.
Gartner said the focus on colour and camera phones will continue through 2003, driving the replacement market in Western Europe. While the technology evolves, improvements in the specification of camera phones is resulting in new models coming to market with higher resolution as well as zoom capability and the support of flash.
"Despite camera phones primarily offering "disposable photography", end-users are asking for decent image resolution, especially if they are sending the picture to an e-mail address," says Carolina Milanesi.
Table 1
Camera-capable mobile terminal shipments to end users by camera type-Western Europe 2002-2006 (Percentage of total mobile terminal market)
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Embedded camera phones
1.7%
9%
21%
45%
66%
Camera accessories
0.8%
5.0%
3.0%
2.0%
1.5%
Total mobile camera-capable terminal sales to end users (Thousand number of units)
2,626
14,770
24,657
48,159
70,036
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2003)
Gartner said mobile phone manufacturers well established in the Western European market will face strong competition from Asian vendors who are slowly entering this market. Asian vendors have a considerable advantage with their advanced technological knowledge in color screens, digital imaging, batteries and integration, a result of more advanced services already established in markets such as Japan and South Korea.
According to Milanesi, "Their lack of brand awareness among end-users in Western Europe, that might have been perceived as a weakness, has turned to their favor. As brand loyalty is not yet an issue for these new entrants, mobile operators have been able to highlight their own brand over the manufacturer?s brand when adding products to their portfolio. A lack of willingness from more established manufacturerse to work under these terms, as well as better technology has favored the Asian vendors."
For an additional commentary you can contact Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi at + 44 (0) 1784 26 7780. For further information, visit www.europe.gartner.com or please contact Gartner Public Relations Carina Swedemyr on +46 8 624 63 24.
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