top of page

Smartphones vs cameras - What smartphones have done to cameras?

Updated: Aug 22, 2020

As per InfoTrends’ 1.2 trillion digital photos will be taken worldwide this year & of which 85% will be captured on smartphones. What does this boom in smartphone photography mean for digital & traditional camera?


Number of digital photos taken worldwide


According to CIPA, a Japan-based industry group with members such as Olympus, Canon and Nikon, worldwide camera shipments dropped by 84% between 2010-2018. It was mainly due to drop-off in digital cameras with built-in lenses, on what casual photographers used to rely previously.


Graph of worldwide shipment of photo cameras by CIPA members


But why?


“the best camera is the one that’s with you”- award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis. Smartphones are ubiquitous, portable and convenient. We carry smartphones everywhere, always, unlike cameras.


Due to social media sites like Instagram and instant messaging services like Snapchat the speed of content creation & consumption has increased. Smartphones allow you to click, process & publish photos instantly, all from the same device.


Bar graph of smartphone vs camera

Tech-wise, the best camera phones pack more pixels than most medium format cameras and boast 8K video capabilities too. Recent improvements in image depth and performance in low-light conditions have blurred the major differences between smartphones and cameras.


Graph showing drastic drop in digital camera sales figures over the years


So will the camera industry suffer the same fate as Kodak?

33 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page