Still cameras fight back with Wi-Fi
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The proliferation of social media along with the rising popularity of Internet devices has hit another electronic gadget, which is seeing surging adoption across the region.
In the past two years, digital still cameras with Wi-Fi capability have been enjoying brisk sales in Southeast Asia, nearly doubling in value in the span of a year, as reported recently by GfK.
Wi-Fi cameras sold across the key Southeast Asian markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam surged 90 per cent to 776,000 units last year. This segment has been uptrending in demand in five of the six countries.
“By December, one in every three cameras sold in the region’s more technologically advanced markets of Singapore and Malaysia were equipped with the Wi-Fi feature, contributing to nearly two-fifths of total dollar sales in the countries for that month,” said Gerard Tan, account director for digital technology at GfK Asia.
Although Wi-Fi cameras entered the market as early as 2005, their sales only started taking off two years ago in tandem with the widening of the range of models. Last year saw about 160 Wi-Fi models, up from 89 in the previous year and 45 in 2010.
Wi-Fi is no longer found only in fixed-lens cameras but also in mirrorless and DSLR (digital single lens reflex) units. These two segments spiked across Southeast Asia in the fourth quarter to make up 19 per cent of all camera volume sales, compared with less than 5 per cent in the previous quarter.
The stiff competition among manufacturers from the influx of Wi-Fi cameras has brought down average prices and increased affordability. A fixed-lens Wi-Fi camera costing US$357 (Bt10,500) in Singapore two years ago sold for only $251 last year. A similar trend is found in Malaysia, where prices dropped 39 per cent in one year.
“The digital-camera market is facing strong challenges from smart phones, which today can offer comparable functions and good quality photos of as high as 13 megapixels,” Tan said.
“The introduction of the Wi-Fi feature in cameras is definitely a right step forward to stimulate and boost the camera market in this Internet age.”
