• January 3, 2006

Sales of digital television will be the driving force in consumer electronics sales in 2006, according to projections released Monday by the Consumer Electronics Association. The figures, which were released on the eve of the CEA's annual CES conference in Las Vegas, project that total consumer electronics sales will reach $135.4 billion in 2006--an 8 percent increase over 2005. More than 18 million digital TV sets are projected to be sold in 2006, as the cost of LCD and plasma screen sets continues to decline. High-definition sets will represent about 85 percent of the digital TV set market. Launches of next-generation gaming consoles and video-enabled MP3 players will also be a big contributor in consumer electronics sales. "We are projecting an increase in sales of MP3 players to $4.5 billion in 2006, with 30 percent of all MP3 players sold having video playback capability," predicted CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. "MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion. Trends in 2006 should be no different."