iStockphoto to become the third biggest Stock Photography Market

The stock market is changing fast and it’s not easy to know in which direction to go. A Goldman Sachs report states that iStockphoto could become the third biggest stock photography market in 2012 (after Getty and Corbis).

With such a big market opening up ahead of us one has to analyse how to focus efforts now until 2012 to grab as big a piece of the pie as possible. Recently Getty Images invited the top brass from iStockphoto to contribute to their Rights Managed Stone and The Image Bank collections, giving them access to a market just as big as the Royaltee Free market (I can’t find the chart where I read this… I’ll update soon).

Having contributed to the Getty Photodisc and iStock Exclusive Collections for a year and a half, I have some considerable data to analyze. I have to think on how to proceed in the next year. I am just one small fish in the ocean but my numbers can give the curious an insight into how things have developed for me.

The first graph shows how both my portfolios have grown over the past 18 months. Since the Getty portfolio is much smaller its increase is noticeable.

The second graph compares the Revenue Per Image on both agencies. Getty images started selling strongly with healthy prices, but over the past 18 months Getty has pushed prices down aggressively to keep competitive and you can see that clearly in my graph. The revenue per image on both agencies are converging.

On the third graph you see my royaltees. Over the same period of time iStockphoto has risen steadily, while Getty remains stable albeit unpredictable. The rise in August on iStockphoto can be explained by the introduction of the premium Vetta Collection.

I think the graphs speak for themselves! Enjoy comparing them with yours and please provide feedback on your numbers. Are we seeing a general trend?