According to the Consumer Electronics Association the global revenue for consumer electronics will jump 10 percent this year, reaching a staggering $700 billion by next year. In its Worldwide Consumer Electronics Sales & Forecast report, the CEA says that consumers will spend $42 billion more in 2009 than they did in 2008, despite the credit crunch.
The fastest growth will be seen in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so called BRIC countries) but China alone is expected to account for as much as 15 percent of all global consumer electronics revenue by 2009. Which leaves it trailing only Western Europe on 16 percent and North America with a 22 percent share of the market in terms of revenue.
When it comes to dissecting the market by sector, mobility well and truly leads the way as far as revenue and unit sales are concerned. Indeed, the CEA suggests that mobile products as a genre will shift more than 1.5 billion units this year. Top of the mobile pops are GPS navigation devices with growth of 20 percent expected this year, followed by laptops which are up 15 percent, and mobile phones up 14 percent.
“No matter where consumers are, whether it’s on the coast of Turkey or the mountains of Peru, they crave access to information, entertainment and two-way communication,” says Tim Herbert, CEA’s senior director of market research. “Many regions of the world face high population densities or underdeveloped infrastructures. Mobile products help consumers overcome these hurdles.”
Elsewhere, global revenue for LCD TVs will grow by around 28 percent this year, which means something like 100 million units sold worldwide. Add plasma to the flat-screen TV pile, and they account for around 20 percent of all consumer electronic sales during 2008 CEA predicts. DVD players should shift something in the region of 127 million units, with games consoles on a predicted 89 million units.