WEYMOUTH, Mass. — Retailers concerned about the future of digital imaging must be concerned not just with printing, but also with services that allow consumers to manage and share their photos, according to a report released by InfoTrends here last week. Three billion images were shared via e-mail in the U.S. in 2006. Factoring in sharing conducted via websites, social networks and picture messaging, InfoTrends reports that well over 8 billion images were shared during the last calendar year, and a compound annual growth rate of over 8% is expected through 2011. “As the digital photography market matures, we expect that monetization will occur beyond capture and print; there will be more focus on enabling services rather than just selling products,” said Ed Lee, a director at InfoTrends. The study also found that consumers younger than 25 years old engage in more sharing activities; those older than 45 are more concerned with the storage and preservation of their memories; and those between 25 and 44 are prime candidates for participating in all aspects of the digital imaging market.
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