iPhone Cameras Kill Digital Markets with Single Shot

Apple’s ability to push the limits on their established core competency, the iPhone, has caused a dramatic and noticeable decline in the overall sales of traditional digital cameras.  The new iPhone 7 Plus has been marketed as “the ultimate camera phone,” which features a second camera on the backside, a higher number of megapixels, and several effects that can alter the focus of the camera (Ochs, 2016).  Ultimately, consumers value the iPhone more over digital cameras for its convenience, its simplification of the editing and sharing process, and its satisfying playback features (Bouckley, 2016). Researchers like Pressman are claiming that the benefits accessible with the new iPhone are now outweighing the costs of using an actual digital camera, causing a decline in the market’s sales (Pressman, 2016).  Apple’s creation of the iPhone 7 Plus reflects the idea of technological determinism as this innovative form of media technology has reshaped consumers’ expectations of both a smartphone’s capability and a digital camera’s accessibility.  This new media convergence will satisfy previously established consumer expectations while also reshaping our culture by offering advanced photography features that have never been seen before.  A cycle of advancement will continue and will then follow trends of cultural determinism.  As our culture evolves around current technology like the iPhone 7 Plus, consumers’ newly developed expectations will demand further technological advancements that will breed new products.  Apple has successfully exceeded consumer expectations for both the smartphone and digital camera industries by converging two products; however, if traditional camera manufacturers fail to make a countermove in response to cultural determinism, then sales will only continue to decline. 

Sources:

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Pressman, A., & Marinova, P. (2016). THE IPHONE WON, AND DIGITAL CAMERAS LOST. Fortune, 174(5), 18.

Sintumuang, K. (2012, March 31). Is the iPhone the Only Camera You Need?. Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition. p. D1.