Today, Snapfish released the results of a new national survey of 500 Americans who own or intend to buy a camera phone in the next 12 months.

 Commissioned by Snapfish, the leading online photo service, and conducted independently by Greenfield Online, this national survey reveals dozens of key findings on the use of and opinions regarding camera phones. Results include the finding that 56% of those surveyed think camera phones will replace digital and film cameras within the next two decades.

Not surprisingly, 62% of camera phone owners are still storing their unique photo memories on their phones rather than utilizing any other storage or sharing option. This finding confirms that getting photos off the phone, so people can do what they want with them, remains one of the biggest issues for camera phone users. On a related note, consumers are 56% more likely to trust an online photo service like Snapfish to store and manage their camera phone photos vs. their wireless carrier.

Snapfish continues to be the digital imaging company that best understands and addresses the expanding mobile imaging and camera phone market. With the release of these camera phone survey results, Snapfish hopes to reveal the facts and fictions about camera phones and their everyday use.

"Snapfish aims to help people share, print and store their photos no matter what type of camera they have," said Christopher Wu, Snapfish's Vice President of Mobile. "This national survey confirms that camera phones are becoming the digital cameras of the future. By developing leading technology solutions, solving infrastructure issues and partnering with wireless providers, Snapfish is dedicated to meeting the needs of the millions using this emerging form of digital photography."

Snapfish offers a full suite of digital imaging infrastructure through the Snapfish Mobile Imaging Platform (SMIP). SMIP enables Snapfish to provide camera phone users:

   1. Unlimited Network Storage
   2. Sharing via MMS and Email
   3. Printing of camera phone images from both phone and the PC
   4. Phone browsing of images via the Wireless Application
       Protocol (WAP)
   5. Premium photo client (J2ME, BREW and Symbian) applications

For SMIP customers like Cingular, Snapfish provides the ability to offer camera phone users an integrated camera phone experience. The Cingular service, dubbed MyPhoto Album by Snapfish, is offered as the default imaging service to all mMode camera phone users. By offering free unlimited storage and camera phone image printing from both the phone and PC, Cingular solves two of the most commonly stated problems in the survey -- an inability for users to store or print the photos that are stuck inside their camera phone memory.

While only Snapfish partners benefit from the full suite of SMIP services, some features are available to all consumers across carriers. All camera phone users, for instance, can get high-quality prints on Kodak paper by just emailing photos from their phones to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Once photos are on Snapfish, prints are available for just 19 cents each; and online sharing and unlimited storage are free.

"Storage and printing are the real problems," said Christopher Wu. "The survey shows that only 22% of camera phone owners print photos taken on their camera phone, despite 73% of them expressing a strong interest in doing so." Printing ranked as the most difficult among a list of 9 surveyed camera phone functions. Poor picture quality and the high cost of sharing photos were the other biggest hurdles.

Additional results from the national survey show that people are indeed using the camera on their phones. Two-thirds of people with camera phones said it was easy to take photos. Results further show that people want to and indeed do use camera phones in very similar ways that they use their digital and film cameras: to take and view pictures, as well as share and preserve these important memories.

Camera phones are the most mobile form of digital photography, however "the home" rated the top location among users to take photos with their camera phones, with family gatherings and vacations the next most likely places. No matter what the location, if given just one picture to take, men and women were two times more likely to take a picture of their child than any other person or thing. Mom overwhelmingly beat Dad (by 63%) as the 2nd most popular subject, though Dad did tie the likes of Big Foot and Elvis.

The results of the survey also indicate that, as with both digital and film cameras, family is a big factor in the use of camera phones. Those with children take 49% more pictures with their phones than those without, and share 26% more of their photos.

   The Survey Results:

   --  Easy as 1...2...3...
       65% of people with camera phones said it was easy to take
        photos.

   --  Home sweet home
       The top rated location among users to take photos with a
        camera phone was the home.
       Family gatherings, vacations, the workplace and while driving
        round out the top 5 locations for taking pictures.

   --  Children are #1
       Men and women are 2 times more likely to take a picture of
        their child over any other person or thing.
       Those with children take 49% more photos with camera phones
        than those without, and share 26% more shots.
       81% of parents are interested in printing their camera phone
        photos, 52% more than people without children.

   --  Video comes in last for now
       Although a seemingly hot feature, consumers are not yet
        interested in video from their camera phones, which ranked
        last in a set of 9 desired features including, printing,
        sharing, and transferring to an online photo service.

   --  I want prints but don't know how
       Only 22% of camera phone owners print their photos despite 73%
        wanting to do so.

   --  Women Leading
       79% of women actually take photos with their camera phones vs.
        just 68% for men.
       Women are 45% more likely than men to be very interested in
        transferring their photos to an online service.

   --  Security is an important factor
       Invasion of personal privacy ranked as the #1 potential
        drawback of a camera phone.
       The possibility for corporate espionage ranked as the 2nd
        potential drawback.

   --  Here today-gone tomorrow
       56% of people think camera phones will replace digital & film
        cameras in the next 10-20 years.

Commissioned by Snapfish, this national camera phone survey was conducted independently by Greenfield Online in late 2004. The research firm collected data from 500 people who either own a camera phone or intend to buy one in the next 12 months. Greenfield is based in Wilton, Conn.

About Snapfish

Snapfish is the leading online photo service, with over 11 million members and more than 300 million unique photos online. Snapfish enables film, digital camera and camera phone owners to share, print and store their most important photo memories at the lowest prices -- online or off. Digital camera and camera phone users upload photos into a password-protected online album they can use to edit, share and store their photos for free, in addition to ordering film-quality prints, on Kodak paper, for just 19 cents everyday, or as low as 15 cents with their prepaid plans. Customers sending film to Snapfish get a full set of prints on Kodak paper, plus online sharing and storage, for just $2.99 per roll. Snapfish also received the 2003 Rising Star Webby Award as the site demonstrating the fastest growth on the Internet, as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings. Additional information is available at www.snapfish.com.
 
Contacts 
 
  
 Double Forte for Snapfish
Peter Evers, 510-601-8700
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it