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PC cameras not just a flash
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February 24, 1999: 3:15 p.m. ET
Shipments expected to surge 72% a year as popularity rises and prices fall
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Smile! You're on a PC camera. Or you soon will be.
A study released Wednesday says worldwide shipments of PC cameras will grow from 606,000 in 1997 to 9.2 million in 2002, a compound annual growth rate of 72.3 percent.
The study, complied by Framingham, Mass.-based research company International Data Corp., said increased bandwidth on local area networks and the Internet, along with continued PC penetration into homes and businesses, will drive the worldwide PC camera market through 2002 and push revenue beyond $654 million.
Prices also will drop, IDC predicts, falling from $147 in 1997 to a projected $67 in 2002. By that time, the study said, 14 million U.S. households will have high-speed connection service.
PC cameras are tethered to the computer and offer still and video images for Internet posting, videoconferencing and video mail.
Kevin Kane, an IDC analyst, said the USB interface is becoming the most popular format, primarily because it is the least expensive and the easiest to use. USB market share has increased from 13 percent in 1997 to 34 percent last year. By the middle of 1998, the majority of desktop PCs shipped with USB ports.
Kane said the parallel port camera, which has dominated since the inception of this market, may be squeezed out by the USB from below and the higher performance PCI interface from above.
While vendors are focusing on video mail and videoconferencing, Kane said the two areas haven't really caught on.
"Video mail is viewed as merely a nice addition to e-mail," he said, "and acceptance continues to elude videoconferencing in both businesses and consumer markets."
Real growth won't occur, Kane said, "until an application is derived that adds true value and intrigue to this product." 
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IDC
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