Submitted By: Mette Eriksen on July 22, 2010
14 months ago, I gave birth to my first child, a little boy. Prior to his birth, I had spent a lot of time speaking with clients about the opportunity that mothers represent to the photography industry. I could see from the many of the surveys that we conducted in Europe and the U.S. that mums (or moms) take many photos and also print and share a great deal of them. Mums are typically less affluent than male Hobbyists, but they seem to be willing to spend a larger proportion of their income on photos. Now that I am a mother myself, I can speak with conviction about why mums are so photo-active.
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Submitted By: Jeff Hayes on July 20, 2010
There were several interesting announcements in the publishing industry yesterday that have me thinking deeply about the future of print and digital content.
Books
In the book industry, Amazon.com announced some startling figures related to its Kindle and e-book sales.
- Amazon.com is now selling more e-books than hardcover books. Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. (The ratio is 100 to 180 over the last month!) These figures are across Amazon.com’s entire U.S. book business and include sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.
- Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books in the first half of 2010 as in the first half of 2009. During this period Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle to $189 from $259 (27% reduction).
- The Association of American Publishers’ latest data reports that e-book sales grew 207% year-to-date through May. Kindle book sales through May exceeded that growth rate.
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Tags: Advertising, Amazon.com, Books, cross media, e-Books, InterACT!, iPad, Jeff Bezos, Kindle, Magazines, new york times, Newspapers, Publishing
Consumer, Production | 
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Submitted By: Eve Padula on July 19, 2010
InfoTrends has been conducting end-user surveys to track the adoption and usage of digital cameras for over a decade. Our research indicates that digital cameras are now fully entrenched in the mainstream market. Thanks to falling prices and ever-improving technologies, just about anyone who is interested in owning a digital camera can now find something in their price range.
Many point & shoot camera models with features and functions that will far exceed the needs of casual photographers are currently offered for prices well below $100. At the other end of the spectrum are digital interchangeable lens cameras, which offer much more advanced features, manual controls, and considerably higher price points.
In June 2010, InfoTrends completed a comprehensive study entitled Digital SLRs and Other Interchangeable Lens Cameras: A Multi-Client Study. This study included a survey of 6,406 consumers. Of these, 1,648 individuals qualified as digital interchangeable lens camera owners (some of which were mirrorless hybrid camera owners). The results of this survey provided some interesting insights about the typical digital interchangeable lens camera owner of today. Read more »
Submitted By: Matt Swain on July 8, 2010
After succumbing to the marketing pleas of one major bank, I moved exclusively to electronic bill presentment and payment. It was the first credit card statement for which I “turned off” paper and I was curious to see how I would like it. For this bank, moving me to electronic presentment may have resulted in short-term cost savings; however, there was a hidden cost that they may not have considered – the loss of a customer.
Last night, I received an email from this particular bank notifying me that my credit card statement was available online. When I went into the account, I was surprised to find a late fee and interest fee for a missed payment.
Apparently, the chain had broken somewhere in this billing cycle. I immediately thought that I had missed the email reminder, but it turns out that the reminder never came. I sorted my email Inbox by related emails and it showed the following: Read more »
Submitted By: Jeff Hayes on July 7, 2010
I read an interesting article today in the Wall Street Journal that reminded me of the lack of innovation taking place in the digital still camera market. In the article Videogame Makers in Talks About Portable 3G Connections there is a quote from NTT DoCoMo President Ryuji Yamada who said, “videogame makers know that in order for portable game machines to take the next step forward, they need wireless. We are discussing this with various players.”
Unfortunately, most of the camera vendors have taken a very traditional approach to camera design by primarily focusing on megapixels, zoom, shutter lag time, and lower prices. While these improvements are all very nice, my feeling is they are pretty much played out.
The following chart shows DSC camera placements in North America over the last five years along with average megapixels and average selling price. Let’s face it, the market is saturated. DSC vendors have fulfilled the basic needs of consumers (taking a quality photo) with a wide range of cameras that meets every traditional need at a price point they can afford.
Lower Prices and More Megapixels Aren’t Driving More DSC Shipments
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Tags: 3G, android, Camera Phone, Digital Still Camera, Eye-Fi, Innovation, iPhone, Nikon, NTT DoCoMo, Photo, photo sharing, Smartphone
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Submitted By: Alan Bullock on June 24, 2010
Xerox's Brian Segnit Delivers a Keynote Presentation at the 2010 PhotoPublishing Summit
InfoTrends’ 2010 PhotoPublishing Summit was held last week in Chicago. This event, now in its third year, brings together sponsors, invited VIP guests, and other representatives of print, photo, retail, and other industries to explore opportunities in the rapidly growing market for custom and short-run photo specialty products that help consumers to tell their life stories and businesses to communicate more effectively. Read more »
Tags: Ecce Terram, Eric Scott, FujiFilm, Hewlett-Packad, HP, iGen, Imaging Solutions, Indigo, LumaPix, Mediaclip, Mohawk, Mohawk Fine Papers, ODM, On Demand Machinery, Photo, photo book, Photo Publishing, Photobook, PhotoPublishing, Printing, Publishing, Taopix, Universal Laser Systems, VersaLASER, Xerox
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Submitted By: Megan Manzari on
The Rochester Institute of Technology hosted its first Future of Reading Symposium on June 9-12. The intent of the event was to explore the effect new information exchange technologies (i.e., e-readers, tablets, Internet, social media) are having on the business and act of reading. The event showcased reading trends from both academic and application perspectives. The academic side focused on the physical, psychological, and philosophical side of the act of reading. The application side focused on real world applications centered on the new methods for content distribution.
The symposium featured some heavy hitters in the publishing and online worlds, including Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine; Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager of Google; Molly Barton, Director of Business Development of Penguin Group USA; and Jane Friedman, CEO and Co-founder of Open Road Integrated Media. Below are key highlights from these speakers:
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Submitted By: Cathy Martin on May 14, 2010
In its first move to retail, the new Dell NextLife (www.nextlife.com) remanufactured inkjet cartridges are now available in all Best Buy locations and on the store’s website (www.bestbuy.com). The consumer electronics retailer carries about half of the higher volume NextLife cartridges in the stores. To promote the new products, advertising in Best Buy fliers will begin next week.
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Submitted By: Alan Bullock on May 11, 2010
InfoTrends’ Consumer Imaging group recently purchased a 16GB Apple iPad with Wi-Fi. Its main purpose, of course, is for us to learn more about the device as a business and photo tool, but it’s been hard not to have fun with it too.
Recent advancements in the quality of their cameras notwithstanding, mobile phones have become powerful digital imaging appliances, with applications for viewing, sharing, sending, and even printing photos. Add a beautiful 9.7” LCD touch-screen display with the intuitive iPhone/iPod Touch user interface, and even without a camera, it feels like a recipe for success. Read more »
Submitted By: Carrie Sylvester on
In a move to bring DSLR-like functionality in an easy to use and carry form, Sony has introduced two new interchangeable lens cameras – the NEX-3 and NEX-5. The name hints that Sony sees these cameras as the next generation of cameras, they are mirrorless hybrid cameras the size of a typical high-end point and shoot camera. The removal of the bulky mirror box, as found in DSLRs, gives it a smaller form factor that can fit in the palm of a hand. The company reports that the camera bodies are just about an inch thick at their slimmest point.
Point and shoot cameras are the most popularly used camera in the consumer market today. Sony is banking on that familiarity and hopes these new cameras won’t intimidate the average photographer. These cameras are designed to appeal to the everyday snapshooter and the advanced amateur, as well. Many consumers want the performance and quality of a DSLR but in a more portable size. Although not “pocketable” they certainly are more portable and something one can carry with them in a purse or jacket pocket. Read more »
