Camera Phone Picture Quality Dissapoints

Source: 160characters.org

Although a camera is considered by many users to be one of the most desirable features in wireless handsets, research by In-Stat finds that less than a third of camera phone owners share picture messages with friends.

The report, "Mobile Imaging Services -- Focusing on the User Experience" (#IN0502053MCD), covers the market for camera phones and related services. It includes results of and analysis of In-Stat's 2005 Consumer Mobility Survey regarding camera phones and use of digital imaging services.

It found that those who now use camera or camcorder phones say they are less likely to replace their phones in the near future than other users.

Although there will be between 300-850 million mobile users who will send at least one image per month across the carrier network by 2010, this is a small fraction of the number that was predicted during the launch of MMS worldwide.

It seems that only one in 20 camera phone users prints pictures or stores them on carrier-provided Web sites.

More striking, though, is the difference between how prospective camera phone owners plan to use their phones compared with how current users actually do. 28% of current camera phone owners actually share pictures using messaging service, compared with nearly 60% who hoped to before purchasing their camera phones.

"People who haven't yet purchased camera phones are very enthusiastic about all the uses for their images," said David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst. "However, once they start using their new phones, they are turned off by perceived poor picture quality, slow network speeds, and the difficulty of creating and sending pictures. Our survey found that very few pictures actually make their way out of the handset to be shared with others."

Rather than complaining about phone subsidies that consumers abuse, it is time that operators rethink the whole idea of cameras in phones from the user's perspective