If you thought camera phones were old hat, think again. Samsung has announced that its shifted 10 million 5 megapixel+ camera phones so far this year, and expects to ship 13 million by the year's end.

Gartner, meanwhile,has forecasted that 110 million 5 megapixel+ camera phones will ship globally next year, ramping up to 330 million by 2011.

Part of this is obviously to do with the fact that a high quality camera phone is desirable in its right, but it's also due to the decreasing cost of developing such phones. In 2007, for example, 5 megapixel+ camera phones were extremely expensive high-end affairs, with the Nokia N95 leading the way. In 2008, 5 megapixels has reached the high mid-range market, with 8 megapixels becoming the norm for the top-end phones.

This trend is set to continue, as Nokia is expected to include a 5 megapixel camera on nearly all of its phones starting from next year. If it does do this, then Gartner's figure looks an absolute certainty.

Who'd have thought in an age of TV phones, Sat-Nav phones, video phones and other such wonders, the humble camera phone would still be such a huge sales driver?

[Source: Yonhap News