The Arts and Media - Home Electronics Products

America's love affair with consumer electronics has shown no sign of waning. Cellular phones; digital cameras and camcorders; cordless phones; large-screen, flat panel, projection, and high-definition TV sets; video game systems; mobile navigation devices; and home security systems have continued to rank high on the wish lists of many Americans. The CEA forecast that the wholesale value of shipments of consumer electronics would reach a record $100.1 billion in 2004, up from the estimated $96.4 billion worth shipped in 2003.

The CEA credits digital products such as digital televisions (DTVs) with driving industry growth. An estimated four million DTVs were sold in 2003, and in 2004 this figure was expected to rise to more than 5.7 million, with a total value of $8 billion at wholesale. The DTV category included flat panel, plasma, and liquid crystal diode (LCD) TVs. Although falling off in some categories, digital audio sales continued to be strong overall, with sales of MP3 players expected to hit 5.1 million in 2004, up from the estimated 3.8 million sold in 2003. Digital camera sales totaled an estimated 12.5 million in 2003, and were projected to rise to more than 15.3 million in 2004.

Cellular telephones are another highly popular consumer electronics product. The number of wireless telephone subscribers has skyrocketed since the 1990s. The CEA predicted that sales of wireless telephones would grow to 84.6 million units in 2004, representing $11.5 billion worth of factory sales.

Sales of personal computers were also expected to rise in 2004 as consumers upgraded older systems to accommodate new digital media and software requirements. The CEA projected that 17.5 million computers would be sold, up from the estimated 15.9 million sold in 2003. The electronic gaming market, meanwhile, was expected to remain flat, with wholesale sales estimated at $10.9 billion for both 2003 and 2004, as a rise in software

TABLE 4.9

Total dollar value of sound recording sales, 1994–2003
(In millions)
Figures indicate the overall size of the U.S. sound recording industry based on manufacturers' shipments at suggested list prices
SOURCE: Peter Hart Research, 2003 Consumer Profile, Recording Industry Association of America, 2004, http://www.riaa.com/news/marketingdata/pdf/2003consumerprofile.pdf (accessed July 7, 2004)
1994	$12,068.00
1995	$12,320.30
1996	$12,533.80
1997	$12,236.80
1998	$13,723.50
1999	$14,584.50
2000	$14,323.00
2001	$13,740.89
2002	$12,614.21
2003	$11,854.40

sales was cancelled out by a drop in hardware sales. Home security systems also projected flat or slight sales growth, from just under $2.1 billion in 2003 to slightly more than that figure in 2004.