Although sales of camera phones are booming, the picture feature will generate solid profits for both mobile phone and photography companies only if taking, swapping and printing photos is made easier, the chief executive of Eastman Kodak said on Monday.
“Unfortunately, the reality today is that many consumers find the camera phone experience less than satisfying,” Kodak CEO Daniel Carp said in a speech kicking off the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association annual wireless show here.
Carp cited forecasts from market researcher Future Image for worldwide camera phone sales of 280 million this year up from 180 million in 2004, but cautioned that sales do not guarantee profits.
As Rochester, New York-based Kodak moves into digital products from its flagging film business, wireless products could be a key growth area as camera phones now outsell digital cameras.
Imaging industry players like Kodak, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd, which like Kodak has been hurt by declining demand for film and falling digital camera prices, stand to benefit from the sales of paper, ink and systems needed to print photographs. But, so far, only a small fraction of shots snapped on phone cameras are printed.
Swapping of photos via cell phone also generates profits for the mobile phone operators, which charge a fee for each picture transmission.
Carp said camera phones need to be easier to use if the picture feature is to create long-term growth and profitability.
“If we are not careful, imaging could change into a niche application in mobile phones,” he said.
Carp cited a survey from market researcher Mintel that showed 60 percent of respondents rarely or never transfer photographs from cellphones to computers and about 70 percent never swap photographs between mobile phones.
“The challenge to this industry, to us, is to make the total imaging experience easy to use -- not just the handset experience but the total photographic approach. Then we can dramatically change those numbers for the better,” he said.
Areas that need to be addressed include ease of use for picture-taking and printing pictures from phones, as well as poor image quality and phone battery life, he said.
Carp said the development of phones with higher resolution cameras and better quality images is not enough to increase usage unless using the camera feature is easy.
“A one-megapixel phone camera in a superior and easy-to-use system will beat a five-megapixel camera every time,” he said, noting that Kodak wants to work with handset makers and operators to help camera phones become the consumer’s main camera.
But mobile picture swapping is just one of many features mobile service providers are banking on for future growth. They are also spending billions on fast networks to deliver services such as video news and entertainment to phones.
Carp urged the wireless industry to avoid getting distracted by the development of other mobile features and to concentrate instead on improving the camera phone experience.
“The next technology push into video just isn’t going to solve the problems with imaging,” he said.
