electronics

Consumer Electronics Continue Winning Streak

Things are looking good for the consumer electronics sector in 2017. According to the Consumer Technology Associations semi-annual report, consumer enthusiasm for both emerging and mature technology is exceeding expectations. 

According to the CTA, the U.S. consumer electronics industry is on track to see 3.2% revenue growth in 2017, for a total of $321 billion in retail revenues. Those numbers are significantly higher than the CTA’s prediction in January of $292 billion in revenues for 2017. Categories such as drones, OLED TVs and virtual reality tech will each have more than $1 billion in sales for the first time this year.

Wearables and connected devices continue to remain strong, with projected unit sales of 635 million and 6% year-over-year growth from 2016. Smart home projects will reach 27 million units in 2017 (a 50% year-to-year increase) and $3.3 billion in sales (up 48%), while wearables will reach 48 million units sold (a 9% increase) and $5.6 billion in sales.

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Wearables and connected devices continue to remain strong, with projected unit sales of 635 million and 6% year-over-year growth from 2016. Smart home projects will reach 27 million units in 2017 (a 50% year-to-year increase) and $3.3 billion in sales (up 48%), while wearables will reach 48 million units sold (a 9% increase) and $5.6 billion in sales. Digital assistants, such as Amazon’s Echo, Google’s Home and Apple’s upcoming HomePod, will also have a strong year, with 11 million unit sales (up 53%) and $1.3 billion in revenue. 

Elsewhere, ultra-high definition TVs are one of the fastest-growing segments, with unit sales forecast to hit 16.7 million (a 59% increase) and $14.6 billion in revenue (up 45%). The transition to ultra-high definition has been faster than the transition from tradition TVs to high-definition, according to the organization. 

Meanwhile, maturing categories such as smartphones and laptops are also showing strength. Despite widespread adoption, smartphone sales revenues will increase 2% to reach $55.6 billion. Laptop sales will also increase 2% over last year, though the projected revenue of $28 billion will be a 1% decline. LCD televisions will begin a slight decline as consumers look to 4K ultra-HD TVs, and tablets continue to fall out of favor, with a projected 5% decrease in unit sales and an 8% revenue drop.

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