PMA Data Watch: A look at camera sales and digital print volumes in September

According to NPD Group Inc., digital camera sales were down 9 percent in September 2009 compared to the same month last year. Digital camera sales were down about 17 percent in August 2009 compared to the prior year, as well. Year-to-date sales in September of this year were down 13 percent whereas they were up 4 percent in September 2008.
  Resolutions of digital cameras are continuously improving, even just compared to last year. Eighty-seven percent of cameras sold in September 2009 were 10 megapixels or more. Only 8 percent of cameras sold were fewer than 8 megapixels. Looking back to September 2008, only 30 percent of cameras sold were 10 megapixels or more and 22 percent were fewer than 8 megapixels. As digital camera sales have softened, digital print volumes are also being affected by the weak economy. There was still some growth, but there are definite signs of a slow down, according to PMA Marketing Research. Some printing methods as well have experienced declines in July 2009 when compared to previous years.
  Overall printing volumes were down 2 percent in September 2009 compared to being up 17 percent in the same month last year. Online ordering activity, the fastest growing method of printing, fell 5 percent, compared to a growth rate of 37 percent in 2008. Printing volumes at retail minilabs fell at a rate of 2 percent; printing volumes on kiosks grew by 6 percent in September 2009. In September 2008, printing volumes at retail minilabs and kiosks grew at much higher rates of 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Printing at home was down 4 percent this September, as opposed to being up 5 percent last July. Other methods of printing, such as printing at the workplace, appear to be on the rise. Growth was 23 percent in September 2009.