According to Digitimes Research's latest digital still camera (DSC) pricing tracker, global DSCs' average selling price (ASP) was up 9.6% on month and reached US$309 in March, matching Digitimes Research's previous analysis that the global DSC ASP will continue to rise in the future as most DSC vendors will give up the mid-range and entry-level markets to minimize impacts from smartphones.
Several high-end spring season DSCs featuring 5x or higher optical zoom were released in March and were one of the main growth drivers of the ASP. The ASP of CMOS DSCs with above-15x optical zoom was up 11.3% on month in March and the above-15x segment had the highest ASP increase among all. The 5x-10x optical zoom segment had the second largest on-month ASP growth in March, up 10.4% from February, Digitimes Research's figures showed.
The ASP increase of DSCs with above-15x optical zoom shows that DSC vendors have changed their high-end product strategy, packing their products with as many high-end features as possible.