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Over the last 7 years, the Smart Photography Awards have not only become a premier imaging industry event, but have been accepted and recognised as the benchmark in imaging excellence.

In fact, the SP awards have been identified as the most highly awaited, closely watched and well attended event across the entire imaging industry. This year was no different. The event saw professional photographers along with imaging industry head honchos and representatives from the trade and ancillary industry joining the fray. The SP annual awards function was held on January 5th, 2012 at The WestIn Garden City Hotel in Mumbai.

Reproduced below is the keynote address by Hoshang S. Billimoria, Editor, Smart Photography, and CEO, Next Gen Publishing Ltd, delivered at the 7th Annual Smart Photography Awards 2012 function in Mumbai:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the 7th Annual Smart Photography Awards which have now become an important event in the annual calendar of the imaging industry. As usual, these awards were decided with integrity, transparency and vision, and the “Camera of the Year” award was voted by an eminent jury.

2011 proved to be quite a forgettable year for the imaging industry. As if the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March were not enough, disasters struck again in the form of floods enveloping large areas of Thailand where factories of companies like Canon, Nikon and Sony were situated. Other troubles were also faced by imaging companies like Kodak and Olympus. After the earthquake and tsunami, Japan was cast into darkness as 29 percent of its electricity depended on nuclear power. The Japanese nation responded as one, dimming lights and cutting down on airconditioning costs. Managers and officers shed their jackets and ties and some even worked from home to save fuel . Factories moved shifts to weekends and nights when demand for power was less. Broadcasts gave warnings when the grid was nearing overload and persuaded people to turn off their electricity guzzling gadgets . Amazingly, as a result of all these measures, electricity consumption in Japan reduced by nearly 20 percent. All of us at Smart Photography salute the resolute spirit of the Japanese people and are confident that all the companies will bounce back with added vigour.

The global digital camera market in 2010 was estimated at between 140 to 145 million units. Sales in 2011 nose dived in the European and North American economies. Emerging markets, however, proved to be a saviour. The Indian compact camera market continues to grow at well over 30 percent and we estimate the sale of compact cameras in 2011 range between 3.2 to 3.5 million units. The SLR market also continues to gallop and increase in size by around 75 percent. We estimate the SLR market in 2011 to approximate 1.7 lakh pieces. Considerable opportunities still exist in the photofinishing field as well as in organised retail and we expect both these sectors to grow rapidly.

The recent slow down in the Indian economy, however, is a cause for concern and the outlook for 2012 is one of cautious optimism. The recent rupee depreciation can also act as a dampener.

What can we look forward to in 2012?

For one, expect a barrage of new product introductions. Secondly, the ILCC market will now become a separate camera segment with six leading companies having entered the fray. We expect a late but stunning response from Canon as well. Camera phones have been around for some time and the challenge to digital compact cameras will come from beautifully networked smart phones especially if smart phone prices were to drop dramatically. This may, however, take some time to happen. Meanwhile, the lower end of the digital compact camera market will see prices drop and competition get more and more acute. Finally, we should expect stunning new SLRs from Canon and Nikon. All in all, 2012 promises to be an exciting year.