National Survey
Commissioned By Snapfish Explores Explosion in Use of Camera Phones
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - January 18, 2005 - Today, Snapfish
released the results of a new national survey of 500 Americans
who own or intend to buy a camera phone in the next 12 months.
Commissioned by Snapfish, the leading online photo service,
and conducted independently by Greenfield Online, this national
survey reveals dozens of key findings on the use of and opinions
regarding camera phones. Results include the finding that 56%
of those surveyed think camera phones will replace digital and
film cameras within the next two decades.
Not surprisingly 62% of camera phone owners are still storing
their unique photo memories on their phones rather than utilizing
any other storage or sharing option. This finding confirms that
getting photos off the phone, so people can do what they want
with them, remains one of the biggest issues for camera phone
users. On a related note, consumers are 56% more likely to trust
an online photo service like Snapfish to store and manage their
camera phone photos vs. their wireless carrier.
Snapfish continues to be the digital imaging company that best
understands and addresses the expanding mobile imaging and camera
phone market. With the release of these camera phone survey
results, Snapfish hopes to reveal the facts and fictions about
camera phones and their everyday use.
“Snapfish aims to help people share, print and store
their photos no matter what type of camera they have,”
said Christopher Wu, Snapfish’s Vice President of Mobile.
“This national survey confirms that camera phones are
becoming the digital cameras of the future. By developing leading
technology solutions, solving infrastructure issues and partnering
with wireless providers, Snapfish is dedicated to meeting the
needs of the millions using this emerging form of digital photography.”
Snapfish offers a full suite of digital imaging infrastructure
through the Snapfish Mobile Imaging Platform (SMIP). SMIP enables
Snapfish to provide camera phone users:
- Unlimited Network Storage
- Sharing via MMS and Email
- Printing of camera phone images from both phone and the
PC
- Phone browsing of images via the Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP)
- Premium photo client (J2ME, BREW and Symbian) applications
For SMIP customers like Cingular, Snapfish provides the ability
to offer camera phone users an integrated camera phone experience.
The Cingular service, dubbed MyPhoto Album by Snapfish, is offered
as the default imaging service to all mMode camera phone users.
By offering free unlimited storage and camera phone image printing
from both the phone and PC, Cingular solves two of the most
commonly stated problems in the survey -- an inability for users
to store or print the photos that are stuck inside their camera
phone memory.
While only Snapfish partners benefit from the full suite of
SMIP services, some features are available to all consumers
across carriers. All camera phone users, for instance, can get
high-quality prints on Kodak paper by just emailing photos from
their phones to save@mysnapfish.com. Once photos are on Snapfish,
prints are available for just 19¢ each; and online sharing
and unlimited storage are free.
“Storage and printing are the real problems,” said
Christopher Wu. “The survey shows that only 22% of camera
phone owners print photos taken on their camera phone, despite
73% of them expressing a strong interest in doing so.”
Printing ranked as the most difficult among a list of 9 surveyed
camera phone functions. Poor picture quality and the high cost
of sharing photos were the other biggest hurdles.
Additional results from the national survey show that people
are indeed using the camera on their phones. Two-thirds of people
with camera phones said it was easy to take photos. Results
further show that people want to and indeed do use camera phones
in very similar ways that they use their digital and film cameras:
to take and view pictures, as well as share and preserve these
important memories.
Camera phones are the most mobile form of digital photography,
however “the home” rated the top location among
users to take photos with their camera phones, with family gatherings
and vacations the next most likely places. No matter what the
location, if given just one picture to take, men and women were
two times more likely to take a picture of their child than
any other person or thing. Mom overwhelmingly beat Dad (by 63%)
as the 2nd most popular subject, though Dad did tie the likes
of Big Foot and Elvis.
The results of the survey also indicate that, as with both
digital and film cameras, family is a big factor in the use
of camera phones. Those with children take 49% more pictures
with their phones than those without, and share 26% more of
their photos.
The Survey Results:
- Easy as 1..2..3..
65% of people with camera phones said it was easy to take photos.
- Home sweet home
The top rated location among users to take photos with a camera phone was the home
Family gatherings, vacations, the workplace and while driving round out the top 5 locations for taking pictures.
- Children are #1
Men and women are 2 times more likely to take a picture of their child over any other person or thing
Those with children take 49% more photos with camera phones than those without, and share 26% more shots
81% of parents are interested in printing their camera phone photos, 52% more than people without children.
- Video comes in last for now
Although a seemingly hot feature, consumers are not yet interested in video from their camera phones, which ranked last in a set of 9 desired features including, printing, sharing, and transferring to an online photo service.
- I want prints but don't know how
Only 22% of camera phone owners print their photos despite 73% wanting to do so
- Women Leading
79% of women actually take photos with their camera phones vs. just 68% for men
Women are 45% more likely than men to be very interested in transferring their photos to an online service
- Security is an important factor
Invasion of personal privacy ranked as the #1 potential drawback of a camera phone
The possibility for corporate espionage ranked as the 2nd potential drawback
- Here today-gone tomorrow
56% of people think camera phones will replace digital & film cameras in the next 10-20 years
Commissioned by Snapfish, this national camera phone survey was conducted independently by Greenfield Online in late 2004. The research firm collected data from 500 people who either own a camera phone or intend to buy one in the next 12 months. Greenfield is based in Wilton, Conn.
