Remember the saying “Pics or it didn’t happen”? This expression marked the rise of the social media trend of marking every moment of our lives with photographs. So it is no wonder that smartphone photography has made such a boom in previous years. The online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal Statista has recently published an analysis of the effects smartphone cameras have made on the camera industry in general.
The rise of smartphone photography
These past several years have brought on significant improvements in smartphone camera technologies. Some smartphones have gone so far as to make digital cameras almost obsolete, or at least needed only in specific niches that require a bit more advanced approach (like television).
Examples of such advancements include Apple’s new iPhone XS camera which has impressed the users with its Smart HDR and Neural Engine that take such great photos that their quality can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with expensive interchangeable lens cameras. With such great solutions, why would you want to carry a digital camera around?
Nonetheless, digital photo enthusiasts and professional photographers would still need high-end cameras and lenses to achieve desirable results but an average consumer will be more than satisfied with what smartphone technology has in store for them today.
The decline of digital cameras
As you might have imagined, although these advancements have skyrocketed the smartphone use and sales, they had entirely opposite consequences for the digital camera and photo equipment industry. Unfortunately, the success of smartphone cameras has brought demise to digital cameras everywhere.
The industry group CIPA, that includes members such as Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, and Canon, published their analysis of just how large this devastation is. Namely, worldwide camera shipments decreased by almost 80 percent in only seven years: between 2010 and 2017. The main reason for this downward spiral was a decline in shipments of digital cameras with built-in lenses, the kind of camera popular among casual photographers before the smartphone photography boom.
It’s hard to tell what awaits the digital camera industry in the future but one thing’s for certain – smartphones have shaken the foundations of digital photography to the core.
Photo credit: The feature image “taking night photo on phone” has been done by Omar Prestwich. The image “inception” has been done by Davide Pietralunga. The infographic has been prepared by Statista.
Source: Statista / CIPA
