Smartphones Pushing Single-Purpose Cameras Out To Pasture

I don't think that anyone will be surprised by this new report by NPD. The company says that smartphone cameras are relegating the normal stand-alone camera increasingly to a thing of the past. A recent NPD study shows that the number of users that shoot photos and video with smartphones is increasing significantly while the number of people using single-purpose cameras is on the decline.

In the US, about 27% of all photos shot this year have been taken with smartphones. The number past year was 17%. At the same time, about 44% of the photos shot in the US were taken with stand-alone cameras. In 2010, that stand-alone camera use was 52%. The remainder of the photos taken were made up with shots taken with webcams, camcorders, normal cell phones, and tablets.

It would also make sense that with the use of stand-alone cameras on the decline, the camera market is seeing sales decline as well. NPD says that the point-and-shoot camera market dropped 17% in units sold in the first 11 months of 2011 and dropped 18% in revenue in the same period. Smartphone cameras are more convenient if they do a decent job with photos since you can email, text, and upload the shots right from the device.

[via allthingsd]