Selfies are worth a billion euros on the stock exchange. The figure also seems low, when compared to the global diffusion of the self-timer obsession to be published on social networks, but it concerns only one company, the Chinese Meitu, which owns about fifteen apps specialized in retouching selfies and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange it is worth 12,5 billion local dollars. In all, through the apps of his galaxy, Up to 6 billion selfies around the world are retouched every month. Especially in China and Asia, where the phenomenon of taking pictures of oneself has gained even more ground than elsewhere: "The trend is slowing down but it is still very high - explains the expert Bertrand Salord of App Annie, a consultancy and statistic firm -. In Europe and the USA it is less widespread than in Asia, but watch out for Latin America and India".
Self-centeredness yields gold business, therefore, but not for everyone. For example, it seems that the market for selfie sticks, i.e. those tools that, when connected to a smartphone, allow human arms to be "stretched" and to take panoramic or group selfies, would be at the end of the line. The Persistence Research study predicted last year that the turnover would reach 6,4 billion dollars in 2025, against 1,9 billion in 2017. "But we are actually very far from that trend", explains Melchior instead Lopez, CEO of Digit Access, one of the leading producers of this accessory in Western Europe. Sold at bargain prices and often by squatters on the street, the selfie stick is in fact going out of fashion: in some important museums it is prohibited and above all it has been ascertained that annually causes more deaths worldwide than, for example, from shark attacks, due to loss of balance when taking the picture or dangerous situations in which it is used.
The signal that the business, albeit still profitable, is coming to an end also comes from the States, where the queen of social networks Kim Kardashian released a book, titled "Selfish", composed exclusively of a long gallery of his selfies. The book was a flop: it only sold 32.000 copies, much less than the likes a single photo posted on social media earned him.
