According to the new Wireless Device Strategies report from Strategy Analytics, “Global Cellular Camera Phone Sales: Q3 2002 Update,” 10 Million embedded-camera phones were sold worldwide in the first nine months of 2002. Almost half the sales were in Q3, as camera phone sales boomed in Japan.

Photo shows the a typical mobile with on-board camera - the Sharp GX-10.

Neil Mawston, Senior Analyst with the Global Wireless Practice, notes, “Strategy Analytics expects 16 Million camera phones to be sold worldwide in 2002. Three million more camera phones will be sold this year than PDAs, emphasizing the importance of this emerging market. Japan and Korea are the world’s leading camera phone markets right now, where 96 percent of camera phones were sold in the first nine months of 2002.”

Other key findings from this Global Wireless Practice report of Strategy Analytics include: J-Phone Vodafone of Japan is the world’s number one camera phone operator; Sharp of Japan is the world’s leading camera phone vendor; Nokia is Western Europe’s leading camera phone vendor.

David Kerr, Vice President of Strategy Analytics says, “Camera phone retail prices, at an average $300-plus in Western Europe, are a huge barrier. It is essential to move prices beyond the high-end into the mid-range at retail prices below $150. Operator subsidies will be needed, but device vendors who can drive down cost curves the fastest will gain market share. We expect Japanese vendors, such as Sharp, to be strong in this area through Q4.”