Digital Camera Ownership and Imaging Soaring; Special Photo Printers Still in Early Adopter Stage, Says MetaFacts.

Business Editors

ENCINITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2002

Leading computer technology marketing watcher MetaFacts Inc. reported today that digital camera ownership has doubled in the last year in homes with PCs.

Slightly more than one in five home PC owners now have digital cameras in the household. This 20.2% attach rate for 2001 compares to a 9% attach rate in 2000 and only 1.6% in 1998.

Results from MetaFacts' 2001 Technology User Profile (TUP) survey, the largest of its kind in the nation with 28,638 household respondents, have been aggregated in a TUP Target Edition -- Digital Imaging -- published this week by MetaFacts.

MetaFacts Principal Analyst Dan Ness said, "The growth of digital camera ownership clearly exceeds the growth rate in home PC ownership in the last few years, from 670 thousand homes with digital cameras and Home PCs in 1998 to 7.7 million in 2001. Digital imaging at homes is hot, and has reached a broad range of users, well beyond the early adopters that buy every type of technology."

At the same time, digital photography buffs are moving more slowly into using specialized photo printing technologies. Multi-purpose ink-jet color printers remain the home PC user's first choice with over three-fourths (75.4%) of those with digital cameras and Home PCs using the machines. Those who own a separate photo printer comprise 5.7% of those with digital cameras and Home PCs.

Still, digital camera owners appear to be searching for better printing solutions as nearly two-thirds of them (65.1%) have changed brands of printers. "There is a good deal of churn in the ink-jet printer market, which is partly attributable to lower printer prices and households replacing or adding new PCs," said Ness.

Other findings in the report:

 -- Digital camera owners are virtually equal in numbers between male and female PC owners. Furthermore, 65.8% of digital camera owners store or scan photos with their PCs versus only 26.2% of non-camera owners who do so.  -- About two-thirds of digital camera owners (68.3%) use their printers to print photos some of the time, with 6% of digital camera owners using their printers most often to produce images.  -- Photo printer owners own more sophisticated peripheral equipment, software and connectivity products than the average digital camera owner. Furthermore, photo printer owners use the Web more to purchase these kinds of products. 

Concludes Ness: "Digital cameras, a great boon to amateur photographers, have clearly become one of the most popular pieces of computer-related equipment. High quality photo printers, though, are essentially pitted against commercial photo processing services, and are still in the early adopter stage of mass consumer use."

About MetaFacts Inc.:

MetaFacts Inc. is a full-service market research firm focusing exclusively on the technology industries, including hardware, software, online, electronics and communications products and services. Company clients, including those with numerous leading high-tech brands, use MetaFacts' primary and syndicated quantitative and qualitative research programs for the development and launch of new products, for corporate planning and for enhancing customer service.

MetaFacts' Technology User Profile (TUP) is an annual syndicated national research study. Now in its 18th year, TUP is the definitive statistical study tracking PC adoption and usage in the home and workplace and is, accordingly, the most accurate and representative survey of its kind in America. In recent years, TUP has expanded to cover software, printers, Internet usage and telecommunications products.

Technology User Profile is a trademark of MetaFacts Inc.

More information about the report, entitled "TUP Target Edition -- Digital Imaging Households," can be found by visiting www.technologyuser.com.