Camera Phones Killing Digital Cameras?

I think Don Reisigner might be overreacting a tad on the fact that the Carphone Warehouse CEO says that camera phones are causing the low-end of the digital camera market to shrink. Reisigner seems to extrapolate this statement to mean the death of dedicated digital cameras on the whole.

As much as I personally use my Nokia Nseries devices to take pictures, I know that they don’t hold a candle to my wife’s Nikon D50, which is a DSLR. However, how often do I carry her camera? Almost never. How often do I carry my mobile phone? I don’t leave home without it. Guess what I take photos with? The camera I have. But you can bet when we know we’re going somewhere that we plan on taking a picture, my wife’s Nikon D50 comes along for the ride.

I think it’s foolish to say that a camera phone is going to ever completely replace a dedicated camera. But I do agree with the Carphone Warehouse CEO that as camera phones increase in quality, the low-end of the dedicated camera market is going to shrink.

What do you think about this topic? Leave your feedback and let me know! See my related posting on the S60 blogs.

Disclaimer: My employer sells more cameras than anyone, being the #1 mobile manufacturer in the world. They may have an opinion on this topic, but the preceding is my own opinion.

(Photo from morguefile, taken by Mary Vogt)