14 DAY TRIAL // According to the statistics, over the next four years, 9 out of 10 cell phone models will include a digital camera. Still, despite this trend, the industry of digital cameras should not feel threatened, the replacement of digital cameras with these all-in-one phones being pretty unlikely.
The estimations were made by IDG, which announced that, by 2009, in Western Europe, 179 million camera phones will be sold, meaning about 90% of the cell phones that will be distributed in this region.
Currently, the most advanced digital camera included in a cell phone offers a resolution of 7 megapixels; however, this performance achieved by Samsung and displayed at the beginning of the year has not been mass-produced yet. The current standard for cell phones is 2 megapixels. There are also some 3.2 megapixel models, which are sold in Western Europe.
The trend to increase the sensors' ISO will continue over the following years, but under no circumstances the devices included in cell phones will replace the digital cameras, because the latter feature more capturing options, effects and post-editing elements, which are not accessible on cell phones.
Still, the success of the camera cell phones will boost digital photography and the fields related to it. The price paid by the digital cameras for this lobby will be seen in the decimation of the low-end offer, the models in this category having performances which are already achieved by camera phones.