study of the US digital-camera market
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 104
ISBN-13: 9780494218488
Other titles: A study of the United States digital-camera market.
Description: This dissertation provides empirical evidence on the competition of manufacturers and on the nature of consumer behavior in the US digital-camera market. The first chapter examines the rapid diffusion of digital as opposed to film cameras in the period 2001-2004. This chapter investigates those factors contributing to the displacement of film cameras by digital cameras by estimating demand equations for digital cameras as well as for two kinds of film cameras. The estimation results show that Windows XP adoption and PC household ownership as well as rapidly dropping prices of digital cameras have played significant roles in the market penetration of digital cameras.Chapter three examines the model launch and withdrawal decisions of the major digital-camera makers over the period 1996-1999. These manufacturers are heterogeneous with respect to the quality of their products as well as their participation in the film-camera sector. I study how these differences in quality and the experience in the film-camera market impact the model launch decisions of the top manufacturers in the digital-camera sector. The empirical findings suggest that the product launch decisions of all manufacturers are most sensitive to competition from low-quality models. However, conditional on the type of manufacturers, high-quality models are easier to launch.The second chapter examines the characteristics attributed to the success of digital cameras by studying both the demand and the supply sides of the digital-camera market. A discrete choice model is employed to investigate consumer preferences over digital camera characteristics during the period 1996-1998. The empirical findings reveal that Sony's easy-to-use storage system contributed significantly to Sony's demand advantage and profitability. The implication of these results is that, in the consumer electronics market, easy-to-use attributes have a significantly positive effect on demand and profit.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-01, Section: A, page: 0286.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.