Sales of Kodak cameras in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas considerably increased last year, said Chen Yaorong, general manager of the Consumer Imaging Department of Kodak China.

Last Sunday, Kodak announced it would provide digital imaging services for Nokia Corp.'s new high-end cell phone, which features a built-in camera, in its 1,300 digital-imaging outlets on the Chinese mainland.

Kodak hopes pictures taken with cameras integrated into cell phones will generate a lucrative digital imaging market.

Currently, the company set up more than 5,000 studios in about 120 cities in China in 2002 and it planned to create another 10,000 this year in a bid to further raise its market share.

China still had a huge potential market for cameras, Chen said, adding that only 20 percent of Chinese families had cameras compared with 80 percent in developed countries.

Figures showed some 40 million Chinese families, each with an annual income of more than 5,000 yuan and still without a camera, were able to afford a camera.

Photofinishing services would also see rapid growth as more Chinese bought cameras, Chen said.

Each Chinese consumes 0.2 rolls of film every year on average, compared with four rolls per person in developed countries like Japan and the United States.

(Edited from Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2003)