Monday October 12, 2009 – Shelby Cunningham
We’ve come a long way. I remember waiting for my parents to set up the Betamax camcorder on Christmas morning. We had to wait for hours as batteries recharged and lights were set up. And in the 80s no one could even imagine uploading their video onto a computer to share with the world. Today’s camcorders are small, quick, easy to use and high-def. And the video software is so simple a child can use it. Leading the charge for camcorders and desktop software are products that use the AVC/H.264 video compression standard. AVC offers greater efficiency than many other compression technologies and can deliver the high-def pictures consumers desire.
People can now take captured video, upload it, edit it, and send it out or post it on YouTube in no time at all. The consumer camcorder market is still on a path to converge with the digital still camera market, but AVC/H.264 camcorders are taking over and will keep the traditional camcorder market alive, and eventually take over almost entirely.
Both camcorders and AVC/H.264 capable desktop software will be experiencing growth over the next few years. To date, DTC estimates that about 55% of aftermarket desktop software is AVC/H.264 capable, and will take up almost the entire desktop software category within a few years. At the moment AVC/H.264 camcorders only take up on estimated 29% of the entire camcorder market, but the market share is quickly rising as DTC estimates that they will take up 65% of the market in 2011, and keep going up from there.
So even though the camcorder and desktop software markets as a whole may be dropping, AVC/H.264 camcorder and desktop software shipments are rising up to take over their categories, and the video capturing and editing communities as well.
Source: DTC
