问答题 US photo giant Eastman Kodak is seeking to exploit their snapping. 11 It announced in March that it would spend more than $ 1 billion in the next few years to capture a share of the Chinese market. "China is one of the fastest growing markets for photography, and its double-digit growth will assure that it moves from the number three rank to number one or two, exceeding Japan and perhaps the United States in the next century," said Kodak chief George Fisher in a statement.
12 According to Kodak, fewer than one in 10 Chinese households owns a camera, which typically uses about four rolls of film per year. "If only half the people in China shot a single 36-exposure roll of film a year—a fraction of usage rates in other countries—that would swell the number of worldwide "clicks" by 25 percent," Fisher said.
13 National figures on camera ownership do not reflect the keen interest in photography in urban areas. "We have two cameras in the house, one for ourselves and one for our 14-year-old son who takes it with him on school trips," said Beijing resident Chen Yanan, who was recently laid off from her state-sector job. Chen"s son is not alone: "All his friends have a camera. They only cost 150 yuan." She added.
14 When the price of a 36-exposure roll of color film (20 yuan) and development costs (16 yuan) are taken into account, the pleasure of photography are affordable to most city inhabitants.
And while the cheap costs mean the quality of film and prints is usually poor, the Chinese have nevertheless come a long way in their snapping. 15 In the 1970s, black and white photos hardly bigger than postage stamps were still common. Today more than 70 percent of photos are taken in color and the prints are much larger, according to a Beijing retailer.