Capturing a new niche
WITH APPROXIMATELY 100 hours’ worth of video footage being uploaded to YouTube every minute, photos accumulating on Flickr and other sharing sites by their millions every day, it’s no wonder electronics manufacturers are seeing massive opportunities.
Japanese manufacturer Sanyo now wants to create a new niche in this highly competitive market with a device they call a dual-cam. It’s a camcorder sporting high-definition video recording and quality still photos – not just all-in-one but at the same time. Although some high-end video cameras from the likes of Sony already make it possible to take photographs while filming video, it’s the first time dual-functionality is at the core of the device. And at this price point.
Sanyo has already cornered the market for waterproof (up to 1,5m) video cameras with its Xacti range and with the dual-cam it wants to put some more distance between itself and its competition. Sanyo’s thinking is that unless you’re a semi-professional you wouldn’t want to lug around lenses, a still camera and a video camera to capture your surroundings.
A single palm-size device (Sanyo claims to have the smallest full HD camcorder on the market) would be perfect for most users and the high-end features of the new Xacti – with 30-times optical zoom and super-slow motion video capture, among other features – do a good job of straddling the space between the happy snapper and the real enthusiast.
The numbers back up the company’s claims: 20m camcorders and 130m digital still cameras were sold worldwide in 2008. Sanyo says the dual-cam market could be 30m units and projects sales of its own new range this year to be at least 1m. The company was recently taken over by rival Panasonic, creating the world’s largest consumer electronics group.
Finweek
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