The Carphone Warehouse announces pre-Christmas camera phone sales push

The Carphone Warehouse, the UK's leading independent retailer of mobile phones and services, predicts that sales of camera phones will eventually overtake digital cameras, due to consumer demand for one converged handheld device.

84 per cent of handsets sold in the UK currently incorporate a camera , with one billion camera phones forecasted to be sold worldwide by 2010 .  The latest camera phone models have five megapixel resolution, built-in flashes and advanced lenses ensuring a high-quality photo.  These upgrades in quality and service are expected to accelerate the trend of ditching digital cameras, in favour of a converged device.

Andrew Harrison, UK CEO at The Carphone Warehouse said, “It's not all about megapixels.  There is high consumer demand for gadget convergence - one all-purpose device to replace cameras, MP3 players and PDAs.  The next stage in the evolution of the mobile phone is taking the mobile device beyond talking and texting to fulfil this demand.”

With this in mind to stay ahead of the curve, the mobile phone retailer today announced its camera phone sales focus with the launch of a series of five megapixel camera phones. This sales focus will be supported by point-of-sale materials and window displays at its 780 stores nationwide in the lead-up to Christmas.

 
Andrew Harrison continued, “The digital stills camera is a disappearing breed, in particular at the lower end of the market.  Camera phones are much more convenient for capturing spontaneous shots – people want to be able to take pictures when they want and where they want. The stand alone DSC may not be extinct yet but there is a chance it will join the VHS video tape, the Cine-film recorder and even the film camera as a technology of the past. The photographic market is changing rapidly and the digital camera's position within it is not assured”

A variety of five megapixel camera phones are available in the lead up to Christmas from The Carphone Warehouse from Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and LG. 

About The Carphone Warehouse

• The Carphone Warehouse has over 780 stores nationwide
• Stockist details:  www.carphonewarehouse.com or from The Carphone Warehouse Direct Sales on 0800 925 925

Notes to editors
The five new camera phones models available at The Carphone Warehouse are:

• Samsung G600 Silver
• Samsung G800
• Sony Ericsson K850i
• Nokia N95 Graphite
• LG Viewty

For further information, please contact:
Thea MacLeod
freud communications
0203 003 6406
thea.macleod@freud.com