Digital Photo Frames Market Driven by Gift-Giving Status

According to the Market Alert over at In-Stat.com, digital photo frames will be purchased mainly as a gift for someone else.  Well, it IS almost time to think about the holidays!

The leading reason future digital photo frame purchasers will buy a frame is as a gift, according to new research from In-Stat http://www.in-stat.com.  Among consumers planning to purchase a digital photo frame in the next 12 months, 38% of respondents to In-Stat’s survey said they would buy the photo frame as a gift for someone else.  As a result, the coming holiday season will be crucial for competitors in the digital photo frame market such as HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung and Sony.

Overall, global shipments of wireless and wired digital photo frames are on the rise, as prices decline to affordable levels.  In-Stat expects worldwide unit shipments of digital photo frames to reach 50 million by 2013.

The weak economy is certainly slowing growth in this market, as consumers cut back their discretionary spending. However, pricing continues to fall and awareness is growing.  In addition, competitors are introducing next generation digital photo frames that support advanced functions, such as multimedia playback of movie clips and audio files, and include support for Wi-Fi or bluetooth connectivity.

The full article may be found on the In-Stat website.  For more information, In-Stat recommends that you read their full article about Wi-Fi as a global opportunity in the connected photo frame market.

In-Stat Says Digital Photo Frame Market Will Get Connected

A recent post on NewsBlaze.com predicts – and rightly so, in my opinion – that prices for wireless digital photo frames will continue to go down, and that people are falling in love with their wireless frames and learning to use them for many different purposes!

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – The market for digital photo frames has taken-off, particularly since prices dropped to affordable levels in the first half of 2009, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). However, due to difficult economic conditions and the trend to purchase digital photo frames as gifts pre-loaded with pictures, most units shipped still lack advanced features such as wireless connectivity to the Internet. Nevertheless, wireless-enabled photo frames are a key growth driver as they will grow at twice the rate of overall digital photo frames in 2010.

“Prices for connected frames will continue to decline, and as manufacturers educate consumers about these devices; the mass market will become more comfortable using the Internet services connected frames support,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Applications such as sharing and downloading pictures over the Internet, as well as streaming Internet radio and video from online sites like YouTube, are expected to be primary drivers.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Worldwide unit shipments of all digital photo frames are expected to reach 50 million by 2013.
• Nearly 60% of US respondents to In-Stat’s consumer survey identified integrated wireless connectivity as a desired feature on their next digital photo frame purchase.
• The total silicon opportunity for digital photo frame suppliers will exceed $550 million by 2013. Microcontrollers comprise the largest opportunity in non-wireless enabled devices.
• The bill of materials for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below US$36 by 2013; the LCD, the wireless module and the enclosure are the dominant cost items.

The research, “Wi-Fi Represents Strongest Opportunity in Global Connected Digital Photo Frame Market” (#IN0904506ID), covers the worldwide market for wireless digital photo frames. It includes:

• Forecasts of digital photo frame unit sales and revenue (connected and non-connected) by functionality segment through 2013.
• Forecasts of average selling prices and bill of materials for digital photo frames through 2013.
• Total available market forecast for components and silicon through 2013.
• Analysis of a US consumer survey regarding digital frames.
• Profiles of digital photo frame vendors and silicon vendors including: HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung, Sony, RMI Corporation, Marvell Technology Group, and Samsung Electronics.

About In-Stat

In-Stat’s market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions.

In-Stat
Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst
781-879-3282
stephanie.ethier@reedbusiness.com
or
Elaine Potter, Marketing Coordinator
480-483-4441
epotter@reedbusiness.com

In-Stat Predicts a Bright Future for the Digital Photo Frames Market

TMCNet.com predicts a bright future for wireless/digital picture frames!  Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributor, has this to say:

The companies in the digital photo frames field can now look to improve their business in the coming holiday season, states research firm In-Stat. According to a new study published by the company, the major reason future digital photo frame purchasers will buy a frame is as a gift.

The company stated that in the next 12 months, 38 percent of respondents stated that they would buy the photo frame as a gift for someone else. The companies in this field can also take heart from the fact that there are more customers opting for this method as the prices come down.

According to In-Stat (News – Alert), the global unit shipments of digital photo frames will reach 50 million by 2013. This growth will create a silicon opportunity that will exceed $550 million by the same period, states the survey. The research also provides a silicon opportunity that will exceed $550 million.

“The weak economy is certainly slowing growth in this market, as consumers cut back their discretionary spending,” said Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst, in a release. “However, pricing continues to fall and awareness is growing. In addition, competitors are introducing next generation digital photo frames that support advanced functions, such as multimedia playback of movie clips and audio files, and include support for Wi-Fi or bluetooth connectivity.”

According to the survey, more than 60 percent of US respondents wanted to see integrated wireless connectivity on their next digital photo frame purchase. The survey also predicts that the bill of materials for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below $36 by 2013.

In another study published recently, the company announced that the suppliers and manufacturers of consumer electronic (CE) products have a great revenue generating opportunity with digital photo frames that are used primarily to showcase digital photos in a slideshow mode. The company conducted a survey to find out what US consumers are thinking about digital photo frames and reported that 1,549 respondents, of which 498 respondents, or 32 percent, owned a digital photo frame.

Customers Prefer WIRELESS Digital Picture Frames!

Cellular-News.com posted an article yesterday about consumer preferences in the area of digital picture frames.  It came as no surprise to me at all that savvy consumers rate video capability and wireless connection HIGH on their list of desirable digital photo frame qualities.    There will always be a market for digital photo frames, of course, as there will always be people who are not exactly “techies” or who have no computer at all, who still want a means of viewing their hundreds or thousands of digital photographs.  It’s very easy to just pop in a memory card or flash drive.  A wireless capability, however, remains #1 for me.  In my home, I have three digital picture frames, but the WIRELESS Digital Spectrum MF8104 is the one I love best – so easy to use, so many options, so big an RSS feed world. . . .

Here is the Cellular-News.com article:

Half of potential photo frame buyers want photo frames that are video capable, according to a recent study by high-tech market research firm, In-Stat. As this market migrates towards next generation devices, In-Stat’s survey also revealed that consumers want Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity.

Digital photo frames that are used primarily to showcase digital photos in slideshow mode reflect a growing consumer electronics opportunity. Sophisticated digital photo frames support a number of advanced functions, including Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth capability, MPEG video files, audio files, and the ability to print pictures directly from the frame to a photo printing device.

“Next-generation features will play prominently in future digital photo frame purchases,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Competitors must carefully balance price and feature sets.”

The research by In-Stat also found the following:

* From the survey of 1,547 respondents from In-Stat’s Technology Adoption Panel (TAP), a dynamic, online panel of technology users and decision makers, Kodak is the brand owned by the highest percentage of digital photo frame respondents. Other popular brands included Pandigital and Philips.

* Although not high in current owners, HP and Sony have strong interest among those looking to buy digital photo frames within the next 12 months.

* Among users interested in purchasing a future digital photo frame, the most desired feature on digital photo frame is Movie clip playback, followed by the ability to transfer pictures from Internet photo sharing sites, like Snapfish and Flickr.