Belmont, CA -- Sept. 24, 2001 -- A newly released, in-depth report by Imerge Consulting Group LLC indicates that pricing actions in N. America on 1.3 to 2.3 mega-pixel consumer digital cameras will occur by Q-4, 2001 and begin to move a market glut before and during the holiday season. As a result, adoption of consumer digital cameras, for the first time will start to move into the early majority core of mass consumers. But this third plateau of consumer digital camera adoption could be hindered by the fact that there are no ubiquitous, affordable printing-from-digital source solutions at dominant retail chains such as drug, grocery, mass and specialty.

This affordable report entitled: Digital Kiosks - The Future Photo Print Opportunities at Retail and Photo Density Areas describes in detail the associated risks and benefits to retailers and digital camera vendors from this digital device retail print opportunity, projected to be a $15-$20 billion market in North America by 2006.

"Baby Boomers are the only consumer segment that has viewing and sharing 4 x 6 prints, produced at retail ingrained in their psyche. As adoption of digital cameras penetrates into core consumer segments, a significant portion of the print opportunity, as we know it, is in danger of being lost to other viewing and sharing mechanisms that are not monetizable. Other consumer segments such as GenXer’s and Yer’s are getting used to soft display viewing and sharing from digital capture devices and they will not move the majority of their digital images down the chain into prints unless there is an easy, affordable means of getting prints at convenient retail locations, asserts Ron Tussy, Principal Analyst of Imerge Consulting Group.

The report states that digital kiosk "box opportunities" are expected to reach nearly $800M in revenue by 2006 with equivilent after-sale service and upgrade opportunities. Digital kiosks will be connected to analog, digital minilab and central lab systems at retail and retailers will soon be making a decision whether to service the customer directly with well trained employees, keeping the digital kiosk behind the counter or to let the kiosk handle customer interaction out-front at multiple locations in the store, asserts Imerge Consulting Group.

"As a result of potential in-action, digital camera adoption could be negatively effected and return rates on low-end digital cameras could begin to soar. Home printing is neither a convenient, easy or affordable option for these types of mass consumers" states Tussy.

Karl Kenny, President & CEO of Telepix Imaging, a digital kiosk vendor adds, "This is an important, straightforward and timely report. Today's digital camera users are demanding extremely simple retail printing solutions. Without an appropriate digital print infrastructure at photo retailers, it’s entirely possible that consumer behavior will dramatically shift to other fulfillment options. While this implication may be unsettling for some, perhaps the most important thing that can be done is to educate our industry about such issues - a task in which this report will be most useful."

Imerge Consulting Group further predicts that when retailers finally realize the potential missed print opportunity, and begin to adopt digital kiosks enmass, a many-to-one opportunity, (many kiosks at one retail location) will drive digital kiosks unit sales volume over the next five years to a worldwide installed base of 265,000 units. But these digital kiosks will be different from what we currently see available. "The notion that future kiosks, designed looking like refrigerators and built to be expensive, non-scaleable, stand-alone units for infrastructure challenged regions is not what retailers want or can afford" states Tussy. "A future digital kiosk will cost between $5,000 and $10,000, be broadband and wireless enabled and have a small format able to fit on countertops or walls. It will be extensible, affordable and will have after-market service opportunities attached which could possibly exceed the kiosk "box" opportunity."

This 63 page, full color, bound report from Imerge Consulting Group is on sale at an introductory price of $1,500 plus shipping and handling until late October and includes an in-depth market overview, a worldwide (N. America, AP/Japan, Europe and ROW) digital kiosk forecast (units, asp and street value) from 2001-2006, a head to head comparison of all digital kiosk features from all available vendors, current and future vendor strategies, retail and Photo Density opportunities, designs and market share. It also includes insightful information regarding large format and "dry" printing at retail, a WW installed base forecast, broadband penetration overview and includes current and future digital kiosk strategies and much more. The report’s Table of Contents are available upon request via email or by visiting Imerge Consulting Group’s site at: www.imergeconsulting.com

Other affordable imaging reports are available by calling Imerge Consulting Group LLC at 650-631-5737, email at: [email protected] or by visiting Imerge Consulting Group's web site at www.imergeconsulting.com