CONSUMER
Ritz launches disposable digital camera
11-08-2003
by
A first has been announced in the booming digital imaging market: a low-cost, disposable digital camera.
The announcement was made in late July by US-based photographic equipment retailer Ritz Camera Centers. The company said that it had partnered with an start-up named Pure Digital Technologies in a scheme that will see the two introduce a line of disposable digital cameras in the US, which will sell for just under USD11 at Ritz-owned retailers around the country. The line of disposable digital camera will sell under the Dakota Digital brand and are manufactured by Flextronics.
The companies say they are hoping to cash in on the 15 percent annual growth in the US single-use camera market segment over the last five years, which has come at time when film sales have declined. Indeed, single-use cameras now represent about 19 percent of film rolls processed in America.
But analysts have already noted that Ritz and Pure Digital will have hurdles to overcome to make their product sell in any notable quantities. Since the Dakota cameras don't have a viewing screen, experts say that the companies are excluding one of the most popular digital camera features.
Furthermore, photos must be "developed" at Ritz outlets, which costs about USD10 extra, but includes a photo CD and one set of high quality printouts. Various security measures have been incorporated in the devices to ensure that camera users can not access the pictures at home, or independently.
For its part, Pure Digital has said that advanced features such as LCD screen and zoom could be introduced in later models, but no details have been discussed. "The Dakota Digital single-use camera is the easy and affordable answer to digital photography without giving up prints," commented David Ritz, chairman of Ritz Camera Centers. "This worry-free digital camera is a perfect choice to capture the moments of summer or for anyone interested in trying digital for the first time."
Despite the early negativity, the meteoric growth in the digital camera industry overall suggests that some type of disposable camera could find a secure niche, possibly in Europe where the digital camera market is strongest.
According to the most recent figures from the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA) -- whose members include Canon, Sony, Olympus and Fuji Film -- 13.4 million units were shipped worldwide in the first half of 2003. This number is a 93 percent jump over the year before when, for the first time, digital cameras outsold film cameras.
Importantly, Europe was the biggest market in first half of 2003 with 4.57 million units shipped, compared to the US at 3.82 million units and Japan at 3.08 million. The relative strength of the Japanese and European markets has been attributed mainly to the success of mobile phones with embedded digital cameras, which have been slower to gain ground in the US.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 