Cell Phone Pixel Progress Hints At Imaging App BoomCell Phone Pixel Progress Hints At Imaging App Boom

The gradual increase in megapixel capacity for cell phone cameras is expected to spur the growth of imaging applications for mobile phones, according to a report issued Tuesday by Parks Associates.

Revenue from imaging apps on mobile phones should exceed $500 million in 2013, the market research firm said.

Predicting that the photo-sharing services businesses will expand to personalized content management and social networking applications, Parks Associates said consumers will be willing to pay for the new applications as they improve.

"Recent trends, including the launch of Google's Android MarketPlace and Apple's success with the App Store, have revived interest in the camera phone platform among carriers, handset makers, and application developers," said Parks Associates' Harry Wang in a statement.

Wang, who is director of the firm's Health and Mobile Product Research unit, added: "Handset makers and mobile carriers will need to embrace a more consumer-centric business model in application development and marketing. Consumers want to do more with their phones, which makes this area fertile for service innovation."

Wang said current mobile printing services, now dominant among mobile imaging applications, will gradually give way to new revenue models including application a la carte purchasing and software as a service.

Noting the growth in cell phones with cameras, Wang predicted that nearly 70% of handsets sold in the United States will include a camera with a capacity of at least two megapixels. Eight megapixel camera phones are also coming onto the U.S. market. Consumers, Wang added, will be willing to pay extra for photo-editing features as well as for social networking services.