The digital camera industry has reached maturity early, and the heady growth rates will slow, according to a report.
Shipments will be strong in the next couple years but will slow and then dip over the long term, research firm IDC forecast in a report Thursday.
Indications are that the market will peak prematurely, missing the opportunity to replace film cameras as the predominant method of taking photos--instead the market will be made up of a more diverse range of devices with photo capturing abilities, such as cell phones and other combination devices.
"Digital cameras won't become as ubiquitous as film because manufacturers became obsessed with features instead of the unmet market," said Chris Chute, digital imaging analyst with IDC. "They were rewarded with market growth, but once they filled that bucket there wasn't any other bucket to fill."