Western European Consumer Imaging Survey 2006

This end-user survey on the consumer imaging market explores the purchase decision process for digital cameras and home printing equipment and gives an insight into how consumers' habits are likely to change in the coming one to two years in relation to the capture, storage, sharing, and printing of digital images.

The survey analyzes how the current purchasing and usage habits are changing in Western Europe, with an aim to providing players and potential players in the industry with an insight into how to effectively target potential customers in this changing digital landscape.

The survey was conducted during September 2006 using computer-aided telephone interviewing by native-language speakers. The sample consisted of 540 current owners of digital cameras and home printers in the U.K., France, Germany, and Sweden, split as below and stratified by age and gender.

The survey provides 35 data sets focused around the following topics:

"The impact of the digital camera on the photography and photo processing markets has been hugely significant, especially over the last two years, when we have seen the home printing market increase tremendously," said Paul Withington, research manager, IDC Europe Imaging Hardcopy Devices and Document Solutions Group. "This rapid change in the digital imaging landscape has been painful for the less agile vendors and has provided others with great opportunities to capitalize in the new digital world. The results of this survey show that there are still great opportunities for growth in the market, particularly in the output side of the digital imaging business, as there is general satisfaction among European consumers with their home printing devices."