U.S. sales of digital cameras have beaten expectations so far this year and are poised to hit a record as lower prices encourage consumers to buy a more-powerful second or third camera this holiday season, the NPD market research group said on Wednesday.
Unit shipments of digital cameras rose 24% through the end of November, which includes "Black Friday" sales and the traditional first week of the holiday shopping season, the NPD said. Similar sales last year grew by 22%.
The surprising strength in the filmless cameras comes despite experts' projections one year ago that demand would start to slow -- to perhaps about 20% in 2006 -- as fewer consumers looked to replace older film cameras.