Maybe all mobile customers aren't photographers, but they are sure snapping up mobile camera phones.
Analysts at Gartner are forecasting that by the end of 2006 camera phones will account for 48% of total worldwide mobile phone sales, and that figure will grow to 81% by 2010.
Worldwide sales of camera phones, which have almost tripled since 2004, will reach 460 million in 2006, an increase of 43% over 2005, and Gartner predicts the trend will continue upward, reaching one billion camera phone sales by 2010.
"A camera is a feature that consumers expect to see in new devices whether they are interested in using it or not," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "With improved quality of camera phone pictures, users can now really enjoy viewing pictures on their PCs, printing them or uploading pictures directly from their phones onto their blog, thanks to services such as Flickr."
In Japan, by 2007, camera phones will reach their highest penetration level, accounting for 95% of total mobile phone sales. In fact, over the past 12 months, Japanese mobile customers have exhibited a strong demand for non-camera-embedded devices.
By 2010, Gartner predicts that Western Europe will equal Japan's penetration levels, to reach 93.6%, followed closely by North America, at 93.4%.