Camera phones to remain hot

Posted on PhoneMag.com:

The camera-enabled cellular phone market is booming, as shipments are expected to reach nearly 1 billion units by the end of this decade, according to a new report.

In total, the market for camera-enabled cellular phones is expected to grow from 225 million units in 2004, to 365 million units in 2005, to 475 million in 2006, to 600 million in 2007, to 780 million by 2008, according to the report from IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.).

This is truly a phenomenon of Asia as I don’t have anecdotal experience to back this up. My own opinion is that current camera phones suck in terms of image quality. I guess in Asia (and possibly Europe) because of the population density and lack of cars, people tend to walk around more and don’t like carrying around multiple devices such as a phone and a camera.

[Camera phones to remain hot via PhoneMag.com.]

Why Did the ROKR Fail?

The ROKR failed because it was crippled and ugly. As plain and simple as that. There was nothing about that phone that resembled the sleek, industrial look of the RAZR or the iPod.

100 songs? Come on. What about battery life? What about the fact that people who are listening to music don’t want to be disturbed mid-music by the ringing of a phone?

Too many unanswered questions and not enough promotion. How many times did Steve Jobs say “Now that’s fantastic!” in his promotion of the ROKR? Or… did he promote it at all?

[Post is in response to Om Malik.]

Russell Beattie’s Comment on Convergence

Russell Beattie makes an interesting argument that cell phones are becoming consumer electronics with music portability and that means that some traditional manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola will be hurting when that transition is complete. In response, I made the following comment:

>Nokia and Motorola will always (probably) have a market. The fact is there is a huge proportion of mobile phone users who don’t want music on their phones (or cameras, bluetooth, etc.)-businesses and governments. They want a reliable phone that will last long hours. Any music phone or camera phone isn’t going to do that-all the juice will be eaten up by the player/camera/gizmo.

>Having said that, the one who will succeed in the consumer market assuming what you say is true, Russ, will be the manufacturer with the largest access to the largest music collection. Apple had the foresight to come out with itunes before many portable music manufacturers and made the integrated ipod easy and fun to use. They now dominate that industry. Come out with a phone that allows one to access one’s huge music collection on itunes (or better yet, remotely) may be the killer app you describe. The new ROKR was no hit because it couldn’t do either-limited to 100 songs and you can’t download music right to the phone.

[Link to RussellBeattie.com](http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1008637.html)