标签: e-book readers

  Digital still cameras Despite the fact that nearly all smartphones and even mid-tier feature phones include a camera, digital still cameras remain popular. Their advantage to date has been that most smartphone cameras were really not that great. But that has changed a great deal in the past 18 months. There are now a number of smartphones with integrated 8-megapixel cameras, and rumor is that HTC Corp. is tinkering with a smartphone that features a 16-megapixel camera.   Still, while cameras in smartphones and tablets prove handy for snapping impromptu photos and provide the capability for posting them directly to the web, they lack powerful lenses and don't have near the number of features as your typical point-and-shoot. Digital still cameras continue to evolve and drop in price, putting them in safe territory by Gartenburg's definition. And, unlike an MP3 player, typical households have had at least one camera for decades. It's standard equipment nearly all over the world.   According to IHS, sales of digital still cameras have grown steadily—apart from a recession-related hiccup in 2009—from 57.8 million units in 2003 to 125.7 million units in 2010. The firm projects that sales of digital still cameras will grow to 134.6 million units this year and about 140 million units in 2012.   So, the digital still camera market is still growing nicely and projected to continue to do so, even as smartphones with more advanced integrated cameras hit the market. But growth in this market would likely be a lot more impressive without the menace of convergence. We all know many people who consider the camera in their iPhone good enough to meet their needs.   While such anecdotal evidence suggests that smartphone convergence has sapped the sales of point-and-shoot digital cameras, there is no question that photography professionals and hobbyists continue to choose single-lens reflex cameras, for obvious reasons.   "Digital still cameras won't go away until the technology gets way better than it is," Selburn said. Even an 8-megapixel camera in a smartphone is no match for standalones, which as a rule offer larger viewing displays, bigger CMOS image sensors and more powerful lenses, he said.   Personal navigation devices Say goodbye to the insincere, synthetic female voice that does nothing except tell you what to do. (Note: Easy but potentially offensive and possibly marriage-complicating joke omitted).   According to the NPD Group, sales of standalone personal navigation devices (PNDs) tanked last year. Through the first 11 months of 2010, PND unit shipments were down 9 percent compared to the like period of 2009, and PND revenue declined 22 percent year-to-year in that time frame, according to NPD.   Even as they are becoming dirt cheap, PNDs can't compete with the built-in GPS functionality in smartphones and a growing number of car models.   Pico projectors This is a relatively new market that is enjoying rapid growth, but it's not far off from being "Flipped" by convergence.   According to an industry survey conducted by Pacific Media Associates, the worldwide market for pico projectors—small handheld projectors, many of which are powered by Texas Instruments Inc.'s DLP technology—is expected to grow from about 700,000 units in 2010 to 22 million units in 2014.   But there are already several handsets that feature an integrated pico projector, and more are on their way. It's hard to imagine the standalone pico projector market to become truly sizeable when many people will end up having one in their smartphone, almost by default. Standalone pico projectors appear destined to be cut down before their prime by convergence.   Digital audio recorder Umm, okay, so this was never a truly sizable market and probably never really had a chance to become one. IHS doesn't even track sales of these devices. But these days nearly every smartphone and even most feature phones offer the capability to record sound files. Standalone digital audio recorders will still enjoy popularity in niche areas (we journalists still appreciate them, when they are charged and we can get them to work properly). But the market, such as it was, was knee-capped by convergence.    E-book readers Here's another new and rapidly growing market that is being undercut by convergence. But in this case, it's the media tablet, not the smartphone, that is the chief culprit.   According to IHS, sales of e-book readers are projected to grow from just over 1 million units in 2008—the year they first appeared—to more than 20 million this year and nearly 41 million in 2015. Not bad, eh?   But it could have been so much better. The iPad and other media tablets that offer the capability to read e-books—though not as elegantly—will siphon off untold sales from standalone e-book readers.   "E-book readers are still in a very high growth phase," Selburn said, "though it's expected to flatten out in a few years. Media tablets don't do as good a job for reading books as a Kindle or a Nook. But you can get to where it's good enough that I don't want to have to carry two things around."   Video games "The only uni-task devices not under any particular pressure are video game consoles and handhelds," Selburn said. Video game players, he said, demand a very high quality experience.   The market for video game consoles and handhelds cycles around new product releases from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and the like. According to IHS, the market for video game consoles grew from 33 million units in 2003 to peak at 55.3 million units in 2008. The firm expects console sales to slip to 44.2 million units this year and continue slipping in 2012 and 2013 before returning to rapid growth to reach 54.2 million units in 2015.   For handhelds, IHS projects sales to grow from 27.2 million units this year to 40.6 million in 2014 before slipping to 37.4 million in 2015.   Bottom line: You can have a ball killing time playing Angry Birds while waiting to board your delayed flight to Chicago, but true gamers want more. And they are willing to pay for it.    Dylan McGrath EE Times