As we've said many times here at the DigitalSmartFrames.com/BLOG, many owners of digital photo frames start off as gift receipients! Digital picture frames make great gifts because they are universal in appeal, useable by virtually anyone who has a traditional picture frame and now takes digital pictures. Since they are relatively new consumer products, many people don't own one so buying one as a gift for someone is a safe option, and many are more affordable than ever.
Now a recent research study by In-Stat has confirmed what we've known all along! According to their recent press release with details on the digital photo frame study, 38% of respondants planning to buy a digital photo frame in the next 12 months will do so for gift giving reasons. This was the most common reason cited by consumers for purchasing a digital frame. So yes, digital frames make great gifts and buying patterns are proving this more and more!
The In-Stat article had many more interesting stats concerning the digital frame market, and many also confirm trends we've seen here at DSF.com. Wireless capabilities are popular with digital photo frame consumers, with 60% of respondents in the In-Stat survey citing integrated wireless connectivity a desired feature in their next digital photo frame. If you are considering a digital picture frame, we'd highly recommend you consider one with wireless capabilities.
In-Stat also expects worldwide shipments of digital photo frames to achieve 50 million devices by 2013. This would make them a major 
consumer electronics device, probably driven by a decrease in prices. Digital frames now are also used by business and are often used for reasons such as corporate gifts which drives incremental sales as well.
What drives the price of digital photo frames down? Its mainly the cost to manufacture the product incurred by the manufacturer. In-Stat also reports on this, indicating that the bill of materials (the components) of an 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below $36 by 2013. This is significantly lower than what it is today, and should continue to drive the cost of digital photo frames down further.
The fact that digital frames are being driven by gift giving makes the holiday season incredibly important to manufacturers. Holiday season sales for companies like Kodak and Portable USA will be critical to the success of their product lines. But if digital picture frame sales trends stay consistent to recent history, a whole lot of digital frames will be wrapped under the Christmas Tree this year.
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