Samsung takes aim at Japanese rivals with Android camera that can upload pictures directly to Facebook
By Damien Gayle
Samsung gearing up for battle with its Japanese rivals with an Android-powered digital camera that allows users to wirelessly upload pictures to the Internet.
The South Korean tech giant's Galaxy camera lets users connect to a mobile network or Wi-Fi to share photographs and video without having to use a computer as a go-between.
While it's not the first to the market, analysts say Samsung's financial and marketing clout suggest it could be the biggest threat yet to Japanese domination of the digital camera industry.
That sector, which research firm Lucintel says will grow to be worth $46billion by 2017, is currently under the sway of a few big brands including Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon and Olympus.
The Galaxy camera, which is available in the UK for £349, features a 4.8-inch LCD touchscreen and a 21x optical zoom lens.
Users can send photos instantly to other mobile devices via a 4G network, access the Internet, email and social network sites, edit photos and even play games.
The easy-to-use camera, and the quality of the pictures, is aimed at mid-market 'pro-sumers' - not quite professional photographers but those who don't mind paying a premium for user options not yet available on a smartphone - such as an optical, rather than digital, zoom, better flash, and image stabilisation.
The appeal of high picture quality cameras with wireless connection has grown as social media services like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter drive a boom in rapid shoot-and-share photos.
Analysts nevertheless say the company is set for a tough battle with more established Japanese firms.
'Samsung has a tough row to hoe against the likes of Canon and Nikon in the camera brand equity landscape,' said Liz Cutting, senior imaging analyst at research firm NPD Group.
'Yet as a brand known more in the connected electronic device arena, Samsung has a unique opportunity to transfer strength from adjacent categories into the dedicated camera world.'
The Korean group, which is currently battling for mobile gadget supremacy against Apple, is already a global market leader in televisions, smartphones and memory chips.
Samsung last year brought its camera and digital imaging business - one of its smallest - under the supervision of JK Shin, who heads a mobile business that generated 70 per cent of Samsung's $7.4 billion third-quarter profit.
'Our camera business is quickly evolving ... and I think it will be able to set a new landmark for Samsung,' Shin said at a launch event in Seoul today.
'The product will open a new chapter in communications - visual communications,' he said, noting good reviews for the Samsung Galaxy camera which went on sale in Europe and the U.S. earlier this month.
However, traditional digital camera makers are not taking the new challenge lying down.
Canon, considered a leader in profitability in corporate Japan with its aggressive cost cutting, saw its compact camera sales eroded in the most recent quarter by smartphones.
In response it has just introduced its first mirrorless camera to tap into a growing market for small, interchangeable-lens cameras that rival Nikon entered last year.
Nikon has also recently introduced an Android-embedded Wi-Fi only camera.
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