Smartphones Continue to Eat into Compact Camera Market
Much has been said about the effects of the mobile revolution on console gaming. The past few years have not been kind to Japanese game console makers especially, as casual players get their gaming fix with mobile titles like Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies. But smartphones are having an impact in other industries beyond gaming. Now that their cameras are much improved, point-and-shoot cameras are starting to see serious effects.
モバイル革命がコンソールゲームに与えた影響については多く語られてきた。特に日本のゲームコンソールメーカーにとって、ここ数年はよい年ではない。カジュアルプレーヤーが「Angry Birds」や「Plants vs Zombies」などのモバイルゲームに取り憑かれてしまっているからだ。だが、スマートフォンはゲーム業界を超えて別の産業に影響を与えている。今や、スマートフォンのカメラ性能は随分と向上し、オートフォーカスのカメラは大きな影響を受け始めている。
The Sydney Morning Herald cites numbers from Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association that say global shipments of digital cameras from Japanese companies are down 42 percent in September compared to the same time the year before. While some of this is due to a high yen and widespread boycotts of Japanese products in China, the effects that smartphones have had on the industry shouldn’t be underestimated.
But as smartphones up their camera capabilities, camera companies will try to make smarter point-and-shoot models, with features like wi-fi connectivity, cloud storage, and social sharing becoming more common on cameras.
Samsung’s recent Galaxy Camera is a good example of this. But the Korean maker is in a good position to experiment with smart features given its dominance in the smartphone business so far. Other traditional camera makers likely won’t be as quick (although it’s good to see Nikon trying).
Samsungが最近導入したGalaxy Cameraはこのいい例だ。とはいえ、同社はこれまでスマートフォン業界を独占していて、スマートな機能を実験するにはいい立場にあるのだが。その他の従来のカメラメーカーもSamsungほど素早く行動はできないだろう(とはいっても、Nikonがそれを試みているのはいいことだと思う。)
Samsungの最新Galaxy Cameraが良い一例だ。韓国メーカーは、今までのsmartphoneビジネスにおける優位性を活かして、高機能性の実験をするのに良いポジションにある。ほかの昔ながらのカメラメーカーではここまで迅速にはできないだろう(Nikonの尽力をみるのは嬉しいが)。
But given that many high-end smartphones are beginning to rival the photo quality of many compact camera, it a hard for manufactures to expect consumers to buy both. Just like many casual gamers have made a choice to move away from consoles, smartphones are only going to become a more attractive choice for casual photographers.