EXCLUSIVE: Cameras dominate picture-taking space!

January 5, 2009: A new US Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) study, The Digital Photographer – Segmenting the Market to Confirm the Bleeding Obvious, reveals that six segments of digital photographers exist: Frustrated Photogs, who make up 25 percent of the category; Digital Curators (23 percent); One-Click Wonders (15 percent); Feature-Focused Photogs (16 percent); Picture Happy Socialites (10 percent); and Digital Mavericks (10 percent).

A seventh category – So Bland We Couldn’t Think of a Patronising Tag, did not register a significant percentage. Or at least it wasn’t noticed.

‘Understanding how digital photogs are naturally grouped together, based on hair colour, political leanings, levels of personal hygiene, sexual preference, etc, will help companies service these consumers,’ said a guy in a white lab coat, exuding an air of unchallengeable confidence.

‘By the way, have you noticed we’ve coined a new word – “photogs”. Kinda neat, dontchathink?’

The latest figures from CEA indicate digital camera owners ( or ‘photogs’) make up 77 percent of US adults, but only 61 percent have taken a photo in the past year. This indication further indicates that, given they haven’t passed away recently, around 16 percent of owners potentially ren’t using their cameras. The report later posits some reasons why this might be the case.

Stunningly, the study revealed that cameras remained the predominant device with which consumers took pictures. (And yet the mainstream media continues to bang on about global warming and the Middle East!)

Digging even deeper into the figures, it was revealed that there were more point and shoot cameras (83 percent) than DSLRs (13 percent) in the US market. Additionally, 83 percent reported owning a mobile phone (of moderate intelligence), with 27 percent using a smartphone, indicating that people who own cameras often make mobile phone calls as well.

‘If we can just leverage this synergy in some way…’ said the white-coated dude, cupping his chin in his left hand, glancing into the mid-distance, then trailing off.

According to the CEA research, the most challenging segment is the Digital Maverick – a group defined in Appendix 1B of the report as ‘a bunch of out-and-out smartass SOBs’.

A majority of Digital Mavericks use a stand-alone camera, but some use smartphones and digital camcorders as well. ‘These people are just trying to mess with our minds,’ White Coat chipped in.

The CEA report made canny, perhaps game-changing predictions based on its findings, such as: ‘Digital point-and-shoot cameras will remain the top selling single-purpose cameras over the next year.’ – Who would have thought!?

The report assiduously noted that, ‘One sign of a mature CE product is the presence of a bevy of accessories to accompany the primary device,’ concluding that digital cameras were indeed a mature CE product as 71 percent of camera owners also possessed an accessory in the form of a memory card, while 64 percent stretched to connection cables, and over half were the proud owners of batteries and/or chargers. (This is a Consumer Electronics Association report after all!)

‘We need to tap into that vast untapped segment of the market which owns a memory card, but hasn’t yet realised it can be used in a digital camera.’ said White Coat, with the smug look of a man who knows how to impress a peer group with counter-intuitive thinking.

Only 5 percent of respondents owned no accessories.

‘There’s a possible crossover here between this group and the 16 percent of respondents who hadn’t taken a picture in the past 12 months,’ he mused.

Other study findings include: digital photographers take on average 54 photos per month featuring an average of 17 different subjects, but the most frequent activity involving digital photos is transferring them onto a computer via a cable.

‘The industry should be working towards growing the segment of photographers – sorry, photogs – who possess a connection cable from 64 percent to, say, 85 percent,’ White Coat opined, slapping the table. ‘And imagine the difference we could make if everyone who owned a camera also had a battery as well!’

Approximately 100 percent of the statistics used in this story are based on a real CEA report …So if you’ve made it to here – it hasn’t been a complete waste of time! The report is available for just US$999.

Happy New Year!

– Keith Shipton (www.photocounter.com.au)