Consumers snap up 55m camera-phones

More than 55 million consumers worldwide will buy camera-phone handsets this year, compared with around 25 million in 2002.

Analyst firm ARC Group said that growth in the UK will come from existing mobile phone users trading in their handsets for more feature-rich models.

The situation is a complete turnaround from a few years ago when the emphasis was on the first-time buyer.

David McQueen, ARC's senior consultant and author of the Future Mobile Handsets 2003-2008 report, explained that 15 per cent of handsets sold worldwide feature built-in cameras or camera accessories.

"Tempted by innovative design features such as rotational cameras and swivel screens, along with the advent of multimedia messaging, colour displays and polyphonic ring tones, we'll see many consumers upgrading their mobile phones this Christmas," he said.

ARC predicted that 130 million handsets with built in cameras will be sold globally by 2005. With the further roll-out of 3G services, this figure will increase to 210 million by 2008.

The analyst said that the total mobile handset market will grow by 10.3 per cent, with consumers buying 444 million mobiles by the end of 2003, up from 402 million in 2002.

This trend is set to continue for the next five years, with handset sales forecast to reach 689 million by 2008, in line with subscriber growth.

"Despite continued delays to 2.5G and 3G network roll-out in the early part of 2002, there was distinct expansion by the end of the year, and the market in 2003 has since staged a comeback," said McQueen.