Smartphones play the role of cameras

In a survey, it is observed that around one fourth of the photos and videos taken by the individuals in US are from the smartphones. This online survey was conducted among 3,300 internet users of the age group 13+. The smartphones have found to replace the consumers' needs for the low range point and shoot camera as well as camcorders.

The percentage of smartphones usage to take photos and videos has increased from by about 44%, from 17% to 27% in one year as per the survey by the NPD Group. On the other hand, the sales of the point and shoot type camera has dropped by about 17% in terms of volume and about 18% in term of revenue within the first 11 months of the year. The sales of the pocket camcorders has also faced a fall of about 13% with a fall of 10% in the revenue.

However, the performance of the high end items is still better. The sales of the cameras with the detachable lenses have faced an increase of about 12% while that of the point and shoot cameras with the optical zoom feature of 10x and greater has increased by 16%.

The Executive Director as well as the Senior Imaging Analyst of NPD, Liz Cutting has said that the smartphones are replacing the position of the point and shoot cameras and also camcorders in several cases especially during the spontaneous moments. Still, during the important events the users choose cameras and camcorders.

When consulted with Flickr representatives, they indicate the increase in the mobile uploads. They say that the traffic to the mobile site has doubled in this year and the uploads made from the mobiles have increased by eight times in the last couple of years.