Once upon a time, the camera industry kept compound growth, from analog to digital, but the growth stopped and started reversing since typical smartphones replaced point and shoot cameras, then pro consumer on the DSLR and mirrorless. The key lesson from the current smartphone users is to capture photo and video and then share it, show how the camera industry continues to ignore or pretend they have better products and completely ignore what the market wants.
As technology keeps advancing, so do image sensors, and result in better and smaller that fit well in the smartphone. When you want a consumer to trade off the handy pocket size to carry a smartphone with them, or carry another camera with them, consumers use their actual purchase and change more smartphones to answer it. Each new generation of the smartphone, becomes a better camera and even film making quality camera. Modern smartphones take pictures and video are sufficient for the demands of even pro consumers. As such, you may expect for the camera industry and market to shrink faster than everyone expected. Smartphone photography rose to mainstream, due to handy and various software available to be used in the same device, making the typical photo touching or video creative expression can be all done in the same smartphone, compared with the camera which requires to be transferred to the traditional computer to process it. While most of the people use their action to prove they prefer instant sharing the photo to sharing it over social media.
Mobile smartphones will continue to grow further, as the existing base will require buying a new smartphone in a couple of years to get better and function with a rich smartphone in hand. High quality and film-like production shoot has been demonstrated in the market for a couple of years, making use of the mobile smartphone in hand. At the current speed for wipeout, we expect more camera manufacturers to produce higher and premium products to offset the massive drop in the entry and medium range of products, which shift over to the smartphone.
It not like the extreme how smartphone complete wipeout the traditional cell phone, but without doubt, unless some new innovation make it so unique, else camera is for sure, will be continue use by professional with lot of gear and where their customer expect professional to continue carry out job with those gear with perceived better quality of output. Couple years back, Fujifilm made a huge success with the instant print camera and printer, to make it easy to share the print instantly. Same kind of creativity and innovation is needed, it is not about higher image sensors. It is worth seeing how the modern marketer for the camera industry addresses the market challenge. Do you think customers buy cameras for what? to shoot better photos? The answer is half correct based on modern technology capability. It captures the moment they want to remember, and can share out instantly, in so compact and handy the size they can carry it all the time. Are cameras capable of doing it?
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