Consumer Electronics sales will reach US$85 billion this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The amount, which is a $4 billion increase over 1999, marks the 8th consecutive growth year for the industry, according to the group, which released its figures Thursday in the wake of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
One of the reasons for the continued increase in spending by consumers is the growth of products allowing users to work whenever and wherever they want. The home information category is expected to grow 6.5 percent over 1999, with sales of $37 billion in 2000. CEA estimates that 54 percent of all households in this category will own a computer.
Within the home information category , PC sales will reach $16.8 billion and PC peripherals will make up an additional $10 billion this year, CEA predicted. PC software will also increase by 16 percent over last year, reaching $5.2 billion in sales.
Also in the home information category, sales will reach $2.4 billion for conventional telephones, while sales of mobile phones will reach $3 million.
Pager sales, continuing to rise by 13 percent over 1999, will be worth $750 million this year, CEA said.
Digital cameras, which grew 590 percent from 1996 to 1999, will rise to $905 million in sales this year.
DVDs (digital versatile disks), became the fastest selling product in the history of consumer electronics in 1999, with 4 million sold, up 371 percent on the previous year. In 2000, CEA projects 6.5 billion units sold, with sales of $1.5 billion.
Overall, sales of home and portable audio products will decline by 3 percent.
Even with this decrease, however, there are still more than $5.6 billion in projected sales, according to CEA.
Mobile electronics will increase by 8 percent to reach $9.1 million in 2000, and overall electronics accessories will grow 5 percent to $1.4 billion.
More information about CEA and the semi-annual report can be found on the Web at http://www.eBrain.org/.