GARTNER SURVEY SHOWS 12.7M US HOUSEHOLDS TO HAVE A DIGITAL CAMERA BY END OF 2000.

One of the more popular consumer products this year will be digital cameras, as 12.7 million US households plan on having a digital camera by the end of 2000, according to a new survey by Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Gartner surveyed 40,000 US households in January 2000 and this survey revealed 5.4 million of the 103 million households in the United States currently have a digital camera. The rapid growth in the market will provide all digital camera vendors with an opportunity to succeed.

The Gartner survey found that 40 percent of digital camera households were in high-income households with annual incomes of more than $75,000. The study revealed that 60 percent of cameras were owned equally among less-than-$29,000 households, $30,000-to-$49,000 households and $50,000-to-$74,1000 households.

Supply-side data shows that half of the 5.4 million households purchased their first digital cameras last year. Digital camera prices last year were on average about $600, so most households with a digital camera will not rush out to purchase a new one again this year. "Without an `upgrade market' to tap into, incumbent vendors such as Sony, Kodak, Olympus and Nikon will not be able to directly leverage their loyal following into new sales this year," Gartner VP Andrew Johnson said. "Consumers planning to buy a new PC are also likely to purchase a new digital camera, so digital camera and PC vendors should co-market with in-store or in-box cross selling tactics that take advantage of this synergy."

Additional findings from this survey are available in the Dataquest Perspective, "Who's Buying All Those Digital Cameras." The End-User Analysis uses the study data to profile current and future owners of digital cameras and suggests ways camera vendors can profit in this growing market.