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US consumer electronics sales to reach $171 bn this year

Indiantelevision.com Team

(12 January 2007 1:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The consumer electronics industry in the US is projected to post a healthy 6.1 per cent increase in revenues in 2008, according to the semi-annual industry forecast released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Overall shipment revenues are forecast to top $171 billion in 2008, yielding a growth rate of 6.1 percent. CEA also released its estimate of final shipment revenues for 2007, which totaled $161 billion, up 8.2 per cent over 2006. The overall projection for the rate of 2008 growth, although slightly lower than 2007 growth, is closer to the long-term historical average for the industry and is still well above expected 2008 growth levels for many other industry sectors, including housing and new vehicles.

CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro says “CE industry sales have exceeded our expectations once again, despite a challenging domestic economic situation. It is clear that the spirit of innovation will continue to sustain and grow our industry. Indeed, we are seeing this innovation on display here at the 2008 International CES. This is especially healthy growth when compared to that of any other industry.”

TV displays continue to be the largest contributor to the consumer electronics industry bottom line, representing roughly 16 per cent of overall CE shipment dollars. Shipments of displays are expected to grow 13 per cent to more than $29 billion. Sales of next generation DVD players will take off in 2008, as prices decline and consumers continue to seek out high quality home theater products. CEA forecasts unit shipments will grow 173 percent to 2.8 million.

CEA’s senior manager of industry analysis Steve Koenig says, “Consumers remain focused on upgrading their home theater systems. Already, digital televisions are present in more than 50 per cent of US households. 2008 will continue to feature robust growth in this category.”

The gaming category continues to set records in terms of revenue. Fueled by the availability of three next generation consoles, gaming hardware alone is estimated to have grown 50 percent to $6.6 billion in 2007. Riding the wave of several successful title launches, gaming software is expected to drive growth in 2008. CEA expects software sales to grow 26 percent to $11.5 billion this year.

Total shipment revenues in the mobile video and navigation category will nearly double this year to more than $3.1 billion thanks to sky-rocketing sales of portable navigation devices (PNDs). In particular, CEA expects rapid revenue growth of over 74 per cent for devices that include traffic and data functionality.