Phones with the ability to take images, both still and video, have captured approximately 40 percent of the wireless phone market, reports In-Stat. Despite the product’s popularity, many camera phone users want higher resolution, the ability to use storage media and many of the state-of-the-art features found in modern digital cameras, the high tech market research firm says. “These desires, plus the fact that many users already have a high resolution digital camera, lead In-Stat to forecast that the North American market for camera and camcorder phones will peak in 2007,” says Bill Hughes, In-Stat analyst. In a companion report, In-Stat also found that dissatisfaction with picture quality is only one factor that is severely limiting sending or printing camera phone images.

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

  • The vast majority of users in the survey also use a high resolution digital camera in addition to their camera phones. Only three percent of the respondents use their phones as their only digital camera.

  • Most survey respondents indicated that they take fewer than 10 pictures with their camera phone each month.

  • Fewer than two percent of respondents say they will consider a camera phone with less than 1 megapixel, while more than 50 percent say they would consider a handset with more than 2 megapixels of resolution.

The report, “Multi-Megapixel Camera and Camcorder Phones — The End of the Beginning,” covers the market for wireless camera and camcorder phones. It contains forecasts for camera and camcorder phone shipments and revenues in North America through 2010.