64MP Is The New Default?

With the emergence of Quad Camera smartphones in Q3 2019 and later on, would it be able to drive the smartphone market just on pixels? Is it just a marketing gimmick or does hold value in reality? Would it stop at 64MP or 100MP/108MP looks more fancy and enticing to you?

Things have evolved, so does the camera! Gone are the days of single, dual and triple cameras now the tectonic plates have shifted towards quad (four) camera. The day isn’t too far when buyers will not ask about battery, RAM or processor but, how many cameras does a phone possesses. There are clear signs to lead this race of quad camera among companies as happened with pop-up, rising selfie cameras and triple cameras at the back. Going with the trend

of optics, smartphone makers initially started marketing 48MP lens to lead the triple lens setup but that’s the things of the past now. It seems that the 64MP is going to be the new default to drive the incoming trend of quad cameras in Q3 of 2019 and later on. To give a glimpse of what the smartphone camera future will look like few companies have already announced 108MP camera as well! Yes 108 Megapixel camera in a smartphone. Going forward we will understand whether 64MP is the new default?

“With multiple sensors (3 and above), the cumulative MP is obviously on the rise and we shall see more of 64 and beyond in coming months. But, as has been the trend, this is not the new norm. It will be defeated by the next level of MPS in due course”

– Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief

Analyst, techarc

Need

Camera is amongst the top five reasons that a consumer opts for, before deciding to buy a new smartphone device. More so camera capabilities (no. of cameras, AI on photography) have always been a top track for all model launches and promotional activities/ campaigns. Thus, it is very much relevant and indispensable for both consumers and brands to focus on camera set up by far.

Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techarc says, “With multiple sensors (3 and above), the cumulative MP is obviously on the rise and we shall see more of 64 and beyond in coming months. But, as has been the trend, this is not the new norm. It will be defeated by the next level of MPS in due course.”

There’s no denying that a camera is an important aspect for buyers with the exposure of data available and social media at an arm’s length. As per insights from CMR’S Mobile Industry/ Consumer Insights (CMR), consumer interest, especially teens and youth, in smartphones is increasingly driven by camera capabilities, among other specs. The smartphone camera is key to recording life’s key moments. Given the hyper-competitive nature of India market, smartphone brands are increasingly looking for new differentiators to make their smartphones stand out, and appeal to the target audience.

Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG) feels, “The smartphone megapixel war is not anywhere close to getting resolved, and I believe the 64MP is just the current default, that could soon be replaced with a 108MP.”

He’s very much true that smartphone megapixel war is not resolving anytime soon. Companies will definitely come up with new names, innovative ideas and alluring features to attract the buyers. Similarly, buyers have also become aware and mature that they have their own preset parameters on which they decide to purchase a new phone. And all these pixels wars are limited to urban smartphone users who have money at their disposal. They won’t easily fell into marketing trap created around megapixels, be it 48MP, 64MP or 108MP.

“To become a default it will require appropriate pricing bundled along with additional features like RAM, storage which are equally essential for any consumer buying decision apart from just camera set up,” says Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.

Upasana further elaborates, “Since the beginning of 2019, smartphone vendors had been focusing on launching 48MP camera set up starting from flagship devices of Oppo/vivo (with F11 Pro and V15 Pro) followed by Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 7 Pro series and Redmi Note7s in mid-tier segment. Since then market has been flooded with launches around 48MP camera feature across brands. Owing to majority market, around 78%, still below $200 segment, 13MP continues to dominate, however 48MP is picking up fast and will see rampant growth in the festive quarter.”

Relevance

It’s just a passing trend of the market like many others such as pop-up cameras; you may or may not want to associate with it. Today its 64MP, tomorrow it will end up at 108MP but, have to congratulate the R&D teams involved in it making precision and perfection much nearer to reality.

“The tech advancements, exemplified by Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1, the 64MP image sensor, used by the likes of Realme and Xiaomi, are essentially pushing the envelope for more better, low light HDR photography, and brighter, detailed photographs mimicking very closely the human eye vision,” said Prabhu.

With the advancements in processing prowess of smartphones these defaults such as 48MP and 64MP could be achievable. These high pixel smartphone requires higher RAM and an efficient chipset to process an image and at the same time eats up lots of internal storage of the phone. Similarly, if it switched to video format, the space required is much larger that you have to compensate with other useful content stuffed into your cell phone.

“Camera has been and shall remain one of the focal points of modern Smartphones. OEMS are attempting their best to give SLR grade pictures as well as enhancing the capabilities of smartphones further by improving camera and adding its functionalities. Going forward, it still remains an important feature as more of 3D and immersive tech will ride on Smartphones. Even as Machine Learning deepens with Smartphones, a lot of image processing will be done by Smartphones, which will depend on the camera. So, its relevancy is going to stay and grow further,” added Faisal.

The new and emerging concept of quad camera has also been instrumental in setting the new benchmarks. The smartphone makers have to incorporate new elements of research in order to make their product superior than the previous generation. When the camera module at the back was limited to three sensors, the 48MP was imaginable but, now with four lenses, they do have an option to give more to buyers, a 64MP lens. With that buyers will have much more to experience and enjoy. The photography will also get a boost with the resolution power going higher. Few problematic areas such as low light photography are bound to enhance with this new probable default.

Future

We have already seen an uptake on number of cameras on devices since last year, where dual camera was the default. Triple camera set up which was restricted to mid premium to premium segment up till 2018, has been picking up fast in 2019 onwards.

Upasana adds, “Currently, only flagship devices are seen carrying quad camera set up and till it becomes mainstream in low to mid end price segment, it would certainly take some more time for it to become a default as clear use cases of multiple cameras (especially beyond the triple set up) are still unclear to the larger masses.”

The quad camera smartphones will definitely come at a cost which means that it’s going to be niche and very limited to urban population in the premium or flagship department. Majority of the buyers are still very much satisfied with the dual camera setup at the back and front. The triple camera buyers may want to taste this new upcoming trend but, will have to wait and watch as rightly pointed out by Upasana that these quad camera smartphones with 64MP default setup

“The smartphone megapixel war is not anywhere close to getting resolved, and I believe the 64MP is just the current default, that could soon be replaced with a 108MP”

– Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group

(IIG)

need to have a proper balance between RAM and ROM to get them going in the Indian smartphone market.

“The quad camera phones will drive the India market in Q3 and beyond. For some consumers, the 64MP may feel overkill, but for many from the social media generation, the new innovations would be key,” adds Prabhu.

The quad camera smartphones are definitely yes for innovations, pushing boundaries of Research and Development to bring out something unique. Few years down the line who would have imagined living in a VGA era that smartphones of the future are going to have four cameras at the back and one or two at the front. Setting the new benchmark at 64MP, smartphone makers will certainly drive other co-existing contemporaries such as SD card business, chipset makers, sensor sellers and technology retailers. Can you imagine that two very stiff and immediate smartphone competitors, Samsung and Xiaomi; Realme and Xiaomi, would be using the ISOCELL technology of Samsung to achieve this new benchmark in photography. The default ultimately will depend on the choices you make and as per the budget you have whether its 48MP, 64MP or 108MP.

“Quad-cam will be one of the anchor specs especially in mid to premium segments which OEMS will project to excite potential buyers around festive season. I see full screen, quad-cam and fast charging to be 3 important specs that will be projected in upcoming quarters to allure consumers,” said Faisal.

The upcoming festive season will also act as a catalyst for this new trend to grow and acquire a handsome market share among buyers in India. Companies such as Realme, Xiaomi and Oppo have currently announced quad camera setup smartphones in India and most probably it will be followed by the likes of vivo and Samsung. Realme has already announced its quad camera smartphones Realme 5Pro for September with 48MP setup and will soon bring its much anticipated 64MP smartphone Realme XT closer to Diwali. Similarly, Xiaomi is also touted to bring its quad camera phone in the fourth quarter of 2019. Oppo has already dropped the teaser of its four camera smartphone Reno2. So be prepared for a new ride on quad camera and before that set your default, first! ■

“To become a default it will require appropriate pricing bundled along with additional features like RAM, storage which are equally essential for any consumer buying decision apart from just camera set up”

– Upasana Joshi, Associate Research

Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.