Another agency is forecasting growth in consumer electronics overall this year. iSuppli said it expects a 3.2 percent hike in wholesale revenues worldwide for consumer electronics in 2010 and even better will be 2011, with a 7.8 percent gain.
Consumers are spending more on CE products even as their income declines. Instead people are canceling vacations, staying at home and, looking to electronics to liven up their “staycations,” said iSuppli.
So while per capita income sunk about two percent in 2009, star CE categories like LCD TV saw a 14 percent increase and netbooks surged 90 percent. In units, LCD TV rose by 42 percent, smartphones by 13.2 percent and netbooks by 100.8 percent, worldwide.
“In a time of great economic distress, when people had less money and spending on essentials like food and rent declined, consumers surprisingly used a disproportionate amount of their money to purchase new consumer electronics products,” said Derek Lidow, iSuppli president and CEO.
This year wireless communications, led by smartphones, will jump 10.8 percent and next year, grow another 13.1 percent. The computer segment, led in part by netbooks, will rise by 7.8 percent this year and 7.9 percent next year.
iSuppli’s conclusion: “The importance that consumers are placing on these electronics products when it comes to spending is a very positive development for the global technology industry and should be a cause of optimism in the years to come,” said Lidow.
In January, the Consumer Electronics Association predicted a slight increase in 2010 for U.S. wholesale revenues in consumer electronics, reaching $165 billion.
Source: iSuppli
