Technology research company InfoTrends says more than 860 million camera phones will be sold in 2009, comprising 89 percent of all handsets shipped. This compares to 178 million camera phone shipments in 2004. InfoTrends predicts camera phones will account for 227 billion photos captured in 2009, more than the combined photos from digital and film cameras.

Society is moving into an era of ubiquitous imaging that offers the ability to capture, store, send, print, and view an image anywhere," commented Jeff Hayes, a Director at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. "We believe mobile imaging will have the kind of impact that e-mail had on document communications in the 1990s. We project that the total number of images captured on camera phones will reach 227 billion by 2009, exceeding the number of photos taken on digital still cameras and film cameras combined!"