50% of people across the UK, Germany, Russia and the USA are using their laptops to share digital images with their family and friends, according to a new consumer research study from Futuresource Consulting.
Conducted this summer, the Futuresource Photo Sharing Update surveyed 2,000 consumers aged 18 and over across the four countries in order to explore:
•The main methods and devices used by consumers
•The usage of specific websites and apps
•The level of frequency in which consumers use each of their image capturing devices
•Consumers’ future purchase intentions by digital camera type and feature
The research revealed that consumers are relying more on multiple screens and media types to share photos with family and friends. As well as half of all respondents using laptop PCs, 42% are using mobile phones and 38% are using cameras. Compared with research conducted in 2012, respondents are now more likely to use their mobile phone screen to share photos, as well as mobile phone apps such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Although down from 2012, hardcopy remains a popular way to share photos, including prints (32% of respondents) and photobooks.
Consumers in Russia and Germany are more active when it comes to sharing digital photos, and via different media and devices, compared with respondents from the USA and UK.
Social networking websites and mobile apps, such as Facebook and Twitter, dominate online photo activity, followed by online cloud services such as Flickr and Dropbox, and online printing services such as Snapfish and Shutterfly.
The research also demonstrates that the level of photo usage varies significantly by image capturing device. Overall, 71% of the total sample is using a fixed lens camera to capture photos, marginally more than the 67% of total respondents that use smartphones to do this.
Although more people own a fixed lens camera than a smartphone, smartphone owners are capturing photos more frequently, on a daily or weekly basis, with almost 60% of all respondents capturing photos at least once a week on smartphones. Only 34% capture photos at least once a week on a fixed lens camera. Instead they are more often used on special occasions such as birthdays and holidays.
A key driver behind the usage of smartphones as cameras is partly due to the convenience of carrying an ‘always connected’ mobile device that can perform multiple functions, and also the high level of interest in social photography such as Facebook, which has resulted in higher demand for sharing photos instantly.
However, looking to the future, only 2% of consumers in the study see 3G/4G connectivity and built in mobile apps as the most important feature they would like on their next digital camera.
The main area for manufacturers to focus on, according to the survey responses, is the need to extend battery life, closely followed by improved resolution or more megapixels.
