In India, customers are more attracted towards digital still cameras and have turned their faces from camcorders. As per industry calculation, camcorders sales have been flat in 2008, recording a very little growth.

On the other hand, digital still cameras sales have been increased by nearly 40 per cent. It is expected to maintain the rate of around 25 per cent in 2009.

In today’s world of economic crisis, consumers are looking forward for the products that are cheaper though reliable. This is the main reason of this change. As per an industry observer, digital still cameras are cheaper than the camcorders and yet incorporate high-end technology that allows for shorter films.

R Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, explains,” The digital still camera is growing rapidly in the Indian market and taking share from the digital camcorder market based on its compact form factor, improvements in recording capabilities like zoom, editing software, etc, and the consumer preference for carrying a single image capturing device”.

In the year 2008, around 18.5 million camcorders were shipped worldwide, i.e. 4 per cent more than in the year 2007. The reason for the increase is said to be the consumers opting for sub-$250 (less than Rs 10,000) compact flash camcorders, which later lead to the traditional market leaders losing market share and concentrating on digital still cameras. Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice-president, Canon India said that, “Globally, this decline has been happening over the past two years and India seems to be following the trend”.

Camcorder technology has been improved a lot during the ages. The beginning is seen from the analog format to digital to DVD recording to hard disk and latest is the flash memory.

Bharadwaj told,” The technology changes have been really fast and hence the life cycle of camcorders fell, but the prices did not. A consumer is still skeptical of shelling out extra money for the same results a digital still camera can give”.

Alok Bharadwaj added, “With the availability of easy-to-use photo and film editing software, along with video/photo sharing forums, consumers prefer taking shorter clips and stills and collate them to get a better result”.

Nokia has rolled out a high-definition movie function in its SLRs (single lens reflex camera), going with the pace of consumer preference.

Hidehiko Tanaka, managing director, Nikon India, said that, “A new market opportunity has opened up for cameras with such features, as it gives the consumer good quality for both pictures and videos”.

More models are expected to be launched with better video shooting options in both still and SLR categories in the future. Companies such as Sony still remain adamant on the prospects of high-definition (HD) camcorders.

Sunil Nayyar, general manager, sales, Sony India, explains,”The trend away from analogue to digital signals was established quite a few years ago, ushering in the digital revolution. Today, both in still photography and video recording, the current mantra is HD — that is at the core of the consumer electronics industry”.

“The lifestyle migration, the need to capture moments forever, affordability, accessibility and the retail boom will be some of the factors that will give a further fillip to both the digicam and the camcorder market” added Mr. Nayyar.

Related News:
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Nikon Launches 8 New Cameras in India

Related Books:
Advanced Digital Camera Techniques
On the Road with Your Digital Camera
Start with a Digital Camera

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Posted by Amrith K.A on 3 June, 2009 10:09:43 AM IST #