"Those aren't for preserving pictures, they're for communications," said Sony's Ishizuka. "They'll see growth, but they have nothing to do with genuine cameras."
Tastes vary
Industry executives say that while US consumers tend to focus on price and practicality, in Japan, the world's second-largest market, the preference is for compact products that push the limits of miniaturization.
Fuji Film Corporate vice president Norihiko Kato said the US market has been fertile ground for Sony's Mavica line, which is relatively affordable and stores a hefty 156 megabytes of images on small 8cm CD-ROMs that are readable by most CD players without special software or connectors.
In Japan, by contrast, "Compact, stylish design is especially important," he said.
Manufacturers are faced with the difficulty of not only deciding which features to include, but also of where to market them.
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