But that’s a slightly worried grin on the face of the photo industry as it holds its annual convention, PMA2005, this weekend in Orlando. After several years of fast-speed growth, the Photo Marketing Association International (PMAI) trade group projects that digital camera sales will rise 13% this year.
The PMAI says 52% of households will own a digital camera by the end of the year. Many consumers are already on their second digital camera purchase, suggesting the market is maturing earlier than expected, says Chris Chute, an analyst with market research firm IDC.
As a result, manufacturers are adding features and dropping prices. “The competition will be fierce,” Chute says.
That’s great news for consumers.
Photofinishers, from small one-hour photo labs to the local Wal-Mart and CVS drugstore, are getting more aggressive in pushing digital printing. The average cost of a lab-produced 4-by-6 print in 2004 was 30 cents, down from 61 cents in 2000, says the PMAI.
While companies such as Kodak have struggled to remain relevant as the world switched from film cameras to digital, no sector of the industry has taken it harder than photofinishers. They’re selling prints for less and making fewer of them – a projected 26 billion for 2005, from 30.3 billion in 2000. Film-developing revenue will tumble to a projected $3.9 billion for 2005 from 2000’s $6.2 billion, the PMAI says.
Read the complete story @ Yahoo.
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