Digital Trends

A picture might be worth a thousand words, but Ireland's Research and Markets finds less than one third of camera phone users share picture messages with others.

A new survey from Ireland's Research and Markets finds that while built-in cameras are among the most popular features of mobile phone handsets, comparatively few cameraphone users regularly transmit pictures to other users, or even store the images for later use.

The report, Mobile Imaging Services - Focusing on the User Experience, found that while people are initially enthusiastic about the potential uses of a phone's built-in camera, but are quickly disappointed by difficult-to-use features, slow transmission speeds, and poor image quality.

The survey found that only about one in twenty cameraphone users prints pictures taken using their phones or stores cameraphone pictures to a Web site provided by their mobile carrier. Perhaps more significantly, over 60 percent of cameraphone users expected to share pictures with others using messaging services, but, in reality, just over one quarter of current cameraphone users—28 percent—actually send picture messages. Only 15 percent send pictures to their personal computers using their mobile operator's network, and current camera phone users also say they're less likely to replace their phones in the near future, relative to other mobile phone users.

The report finds that, worldwide, only a percentage of camera phones are used regularly to transmit, print, or store pictures, but still anticipates between 300 and 850 million mobile phone users will send at least one picture per month over their carrier's networks by 2010.