14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Ericsson's Cybershot series of mobile phones has seen great traction from users all round the world, and it seems that the company plans to focus more on the cameraphones it will release to the market this year, at least when it comes to the US area. The phone maker will launch its C905 8-megapixel handset in the country and expects it to gain popularity among users, although not everyone is as confident as the company is.
The device is expected to be compatible with the mobile networks owned by AT&T or T-Mobile USA, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. Jon Mulder, the company's head of product marketing for North America, said that at least one of these carriers would sell the device, but named none. At the same time, he also said that the phone should feature a price tag of $199 to $249 with a two-year contract, given the fact that in Europe it was priced at 400 Euros ($538.79).
Sony Ericsson believes that users prefer having a high-quality camera at hand at all times, especially on mobile phones, as the devices allow them to rapidly share photographs via social networking sites like Facebook. “We're going to be really focused on this device starting in the second quarter,” said Jon Mulder. “We know that this device is going to be relevant to consumers in the second half.”
According to some analysts, there are little chances that users will actually want to pay more only to be able to take high-quality shots, especially given the benchmark price of $200 established by Apple with its iPhone for the powerful smartphones. “It's a challenging case to make, particularly in this age where we're seeing standalone 8 megapixel cameras offered for $100 or less,” said NPD analyst Ross Rubin, cited by Reuters. He also stated that Cybershot had already turned into a strong standalone camera brand.
Another high-quality camera behemoth, Idou, will be launched by Sony Ericsson this year. The device bears a 12.1-megapixel photo snapper, yet the company does not intend to bring it to the US market in 2009. At the same time, the Sony Ericsson C905 will face rival Samsung Memoir, which also comes with an 8-megapixel camera and is offered by T-Mobile for USA for $249.
Some analysts do not consider that high-quality cameraphones will have such a success with the public, and Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi says, “For the majority of consumers 5 (megapixels) is probably good enough and what should be improved is flash and zoom rather than pixels.” However, there are also consumers who would rather choose such devices, mainly due to the fact that they come with easy to use physical buttons in times when all the focus is on touchscreen phones.