Almost Two Thirds of Ad Spending Is Digital

Source: Statista

In 2023, digital advertising in the United States will for the first time make up more than two thirds of total advertising industry spending. According to Statista Advertising & Media Outlook, the share of digital ad spend is expected to reach 61 percent this year.

The paradigm shift from analog to digital runs through most aspects of modern society and advertisement has been on the forefront of the change. Losses in circulation and the reach of print media, as well as relevant age groups turning away from broadcast TV, is making advertising through traditional avenues increasingly unattractive. At the same time, digital ad formats are diversifying.

According to Statista estimates, total ad spending will reach almost $590 billion in 2020. Compared to the previous year, spending is expected to be down around $10 billion because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Infographic: Almost Two Thirds of Ad Spending Is Digital | Statista

Digital Camera Sales Dropped 87% Since 2010S

Source: Statista

“The best camera is the one that’s with you”. This phrase, coined by the award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis, probably best describes the impact that smartphone cameras had and still have on the world of photography. The cameras built into our phones may still be inferior to dedicated digital cameras in general and SLR cameras in particular, but they are constantly getting closer and they have the priceless advantage of always being within reach.

When the first touchscreen smartphones made waves in 2007 and 2008, the camera industry was doing very well. In 2008, members of the CIPA, an association of the world’s most renowned camera makers, shipped almost 120 million digital cameras and probably didn’t worry too much about the upcoming competition. Back then, smartphone cameras were no match in terms of image quality and photo apps such as Instagram or Snapchat hadn’t been invented yet.

12 years later, the situation of the camera industry looks very different. Not only do most people always have their smartphone with them, but the lenses and sensors built into mobile phones are getting better and better. Having raced to ever-higher megapixel counts in the early years of the smartphone boom, recent developments have focused on improving image depth and performance in low-light conditions, both areas in which the difference between smartphones and dedicated cameras used to be most obvious. As our chart illustrates, global camera shipments by CITA members dropped by more than 80 percent since peaking in 2010. Last year, the world’s largest camera makers shipped 15.2 million units, the lowest number of digital cameras since 2001 and the lowest number of cameras per se since the early 1980s.

Infographic: Digital Camera Sales Dropped 87% Since 2010 | Statista

Where Does the Digital Divide Persist?

Source: Statista

Rural communities are now more likely to have access to broadband and internet-connected devices, like smartphones and laptops than ever before, yet gaps between rural residents and their urban and suburban counterparts persist. 

For internet connected devices the biggest gap remains in the smartphone arena. Pew surveyed rural residents about their devices and found that about seven in ten rural respondents had a smartphone, a rate that is closer to eight in ten for suburban or urban respondents. While there is a gap in reported smartphone ownership, that gap has closed significantly from 2011, when there was around a 16 to 17-point gap between rural and suburban/urban residents. 

Outside of the devices, simply accessing reliable home broadband remains a problem for rural households in the U.S. About 63 percent of respondents in rural communities had access to home broadband, compared to three-quarters of respondents in suburban and urban communities. Back in 2000, practically nobody had home broadband, regardless of the area they lived in. By 2019, a 12-point gap in access emerged, which points to a noticeable trend in the adoption of many technologies: as it advances, some people are left behind.

Infographic: Where Does the Digital Divide Persist? | Statista