John Spar can thank small cameras for his big business plans. The cameras developed by Replay XD in Newbury Park have been adopted by action sport enthusiasts, racecar drivers, hunters, skiers, pilots of radio-controlled planes and television production companies. They use them to shoot video in high definition. This month, Replay releases a low-cost version of its high-definition camera to go after buyers who are part of a generation obsessed with video documentation and posting their exploits on YouTube, Facebook and other social media websites. “By developing an easier product to use, one that is smaller, lighter and more durable with so many options, it fits into every single market,” Spar said. Replay XD shipped about 7,000 camera units in 2011 in both a standard-definition and the high definition XD1080 models. That is a small percentage of the overall market that shipped 13.2 million pocket camcorders in 2011 and is dominated by heavyweights Contour and the Hero cameras made by GoPro, according to market research firm International Data Corp., based in Massachusetts. The firm projects shipments of 13.6 million of pocket camcorders in 2012. For both the manufacturers and retailers, these small cameras are a hyper growth product. What defines the success of a camera model is not how they are put together but the marketing behind them and their accessories, said Chris Chute, a research analyst with IDC. “They do not need a discount to sell,” Chute said. “They are filling an application the users are willing to pay full price for.” Filmtools, a Burbank shop selling supplies for the film and television industry, offers both GoPro and Contour cameras. About half the sales come from small production companies, said President Stan McClain. “They are limited in what they can do, but at the same time they are versatile because of their size and shape,” McClain said. Brad Geck, a brand specialist with Team Associated, a Southern California retailer of radio control cars, has used GoPro cameras in the cars but thinks that Replay has made the mini-cameras more practical. “A GoPro has a brick shape and does not fit everywhere,” Geck said. “A Replay is like a roll of quarters. You can put it wherever you want.” Replay XD competes not just on price but with the accessories that come standard with a purchase. The clamps, mounts, battery, rechargers, memory card and other gear with the camera are valued at about $90, Spar said. “When you open a Replay box you have everything you need to make a video,” Spar said. Replay cameras are designed so that making that video is easy. There are just two buttons – an on/off and start/stop. When activated, the camera vibrates rather than emitting beeps which may be drowned out by engines or other noises heard in an action sport environment. Under the lens cap is a menu of the camera’s functions. The production team for “Intrepid Outdoors,” airing on the NBC Sports Network, met with Spar to drill him about the Replay cameras before committing to use them on the hunting show. For every obstacle to using the cameras on a shoot that the producers could come up with, Spar had a solution, said Jhan Dolphin, marketing director for the cable show. The Replay design has eliminated movement of the camera to give a clear, crisp picture needed for broadcast. An extra battery pack provides up to 10 hours of power, a necessity when shooting animals outdoors, Dolphin said. “They are small and not visible and can be placed in an area where (the hosts) will be hunting,” Dolphin said. “They can get angles and shots they had never gotten before.” Replay offers a larger selection of accessories than what GoPro and Contour provide for their cameras. Spar said. All are designed at the Newbury Park offices and then made by a contract manufacturer. These include a 4-1/2 inch monitor, clamps for roll cages, and tripod mounts. For the U.S. military, the company designed a mount for an automatic weapon that works with an infrared light so that it can film in the dark, Spar said. Spar and his staff are themselves sports enthusiasts; they enjoy racing, skateboarding, and skiing. They thus have first-hand knowledge about the types of accessories that will sell and how they should be designed. “We do so many things as consumers that we know what works,” Spar said. When Spar started the company in 2006, it was for a high-end market of NASCAR and Indy car drivers who wanted videos of their races. Market demands have prompted the company’s evolution from the professional-consumer market toward a mainstream consumer market. For one, consumer tastes changed as fewer people bought point-and-shoot cameras and cell phones gave the ability to shoot video. Plus, YouTube, founded in 2005 and purchased the following year by Google, offered a go-to place to download and view videos. Both Spar and McClain said that the influence of social media on the popularity of pocket camcorders cannot be underestimated. “These cameras would not be possible if there were not a way to distribute the content,” McClain said.
Picture Growing Big for Replay XD’s Small Cameras
