'Death by smartphone' spurs camera makers into action

Sony Corp, Canon Corp and Samsung Electronics Co are making every effort to keep their latest camera models from going the way of the Flip, GPS receivers and other victims of category killing smartphones.

The top camera makers will unveil more than a dozen new models of inexpensive digital cameras at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, offering jazzed up standard features such as water resistant photography and special software to keep squirming children in sharp focus.

The strategy is aimed at reversing a crippling slide in entry level digital cameras, the industry's largest market segment, and to carve out a profitable niche that can compete effectively against the expanding smartphone market. To combat improved camera technology in smartphones from Apple Inc, Nokia Oyj and others, manufacturers at the show opening in Las Vegas on Jan. 10 will, among other things, introduce models that beam photos directly to TVs and computers.

"All manufacturers, including Samsung, need to focus on the value proposition of a camera and what differentiates it versus a smartphone," Reid Sullivan, a senior vice president of Samsung, said in an interview. The Suwon, South Korea-based company will introduce eight models that wirelessly transmit images to other devices.

Sales of digital cameras that fit into consumers' pockets, called point-and-shoots, have taken a hit as smartphones have become adept at taking high-definition photos and recording videos, said Liz Cutting, an analyst with researcher NPD Group Inc. in Port Washington, New York. Smartphones also make it easy to transfer those shots and videos to sites such as Facebook and Flickr, she said.

"The best device is the one you have in your hands when the moment happens that it's worth taking a picture," Cutting said in an interview. Camera makers "need to prove themselves to the consumer and stay up to snuff against a smartphone."

The results so far show that camera manufacturers such as Nikon Corp, Canon, Sony, Eastman Kodak Co and Samsung are being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Through November, 2011 US retail sales of entry-level cameras plummeted 17 percent to 12 million units from 2010, NPD said on December 26.