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

According to NPD Group Inc., digital camera sales were down 13 percent compared in July 2009 compared to the same month last year. Digital camera sales were down about 13 percent in June 2009 compared to the prior year, as well. Year-to-date sales in July of this year were down 12 percent whereas they were up 5 percent in July 2008.
  Resolutions of digital cameras are continuously improving, even just compared to last year. Eighty-three percent of cameras sold in July 2009 were 10 megapixels or more. Only 7 percent of cameras sold were fewer than 8 megapixels. Looking back to July 2008, only 25 percent of cameras sold were 10 megapixels or more and 27 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 3 percent in July 2009 compared to being up 21 percent in the same month last year. Online ordering activity, the fastest growing method of printing, grew at a rate of only 2 percent, compared to a rate of 47 percent in 2008. Printing volumes at retail minilabs fell at a rate of 6 percent; printing volumes on kiosks fell by 12 percent in July 2009. In July 2008, printing volumes at retail minilabs and kiosks grew at much higher rates of 25 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Printing at home was down 2 percent this July, 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 42 percent in July 2009, whereas in July 2008 other methods were down 6 percent.