In a digital era where film is considered 'dead,' the torch held by analogue photography continues to burn bright. It is estimated that Fujifilm sold over five million Instax cameras in 2015.
In an exclusive interview with International Business Times, india, Taro Kawano, Head-Image Capturing, Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd, said: "In FY2014, Fujifilm sold 3.9 million units, which went up to 5.0 million units in FY2015 with sales mainly coming from Europe and the United States."
Initially, the Instax series was introduced in East Asia South East Asia and Japan. Fujifilm now sells the Instax in Oceania, Europe and the U.S. and introduced the camera to India in May 2015. They expect to sell 100,000 units in FY2016.
"It [the Instax] has indeed received a positive response especially from the youth [in India] due to its ability to give instant photos, thereby adding more fun to photography. Due to rising consumer awareness, the Instax and high-end digital camera markets are expected to witness much growth," Kawano added.
Talking about the future of the Instax line in India, Kawano believes that the success of the Instax around the world can be replicated in India as the response so far has been positive. He also added that Fujifilm intends to position the Instax Wide as a more consumer-friendly option, thereby expanding its usage.
"Last year we had positioned the Instax Wide in India particularly for the wedding photo market and it was more of a B2B product and sold to professional photographers," Kawano said.
The Instax series of cameras were introduced in 1998 when Polaroid was also selling instant cameras and film. While Polaroid stopped producing instant film in 2008, Fujifilm continued to produce instant cameras and instant film, developing newer products along the way.
Fujifilm manufactures and markets two versions of the Instax, the Mini, which produces credit card-sized prints, and the Instax Wide (formerly Instax), which produces images that have double the width of the Instax Mini.
Currently, Fujifilm manufactures six versions of the Instax Mini and two versions of the Instax Wide, along with an Instax printer that connects to users' smartphones via an app and allows users to print images. The printer is also compatible with select X-series cameras.
Instax film is also compatible with select Lomography cameras.
