Category: Consumer electronics

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Men spend $908 annually on consumer electronics, women spend $558

An average US household spent $1,229 on consumer electronics products in the past 12 months, $176 less than in the prior year, according to Consumer Electronics Association.

Men continue to spend more on consumer electronics than women, spending $902 annually compared with women, who spent $558. Young adults spent more than any other age group. Consumers ages 18 to 24 reportedly spent $1,056 in 2008 on CE devices, an increase of nearly $100 from the prior year. The average household reports owning 23 CE products, down from 24 products in 2008. The number of separate CE products per household increased, from 13, to 15.

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How often do people play games?

How often do you play games, whether on a computer, or online, or on a game console, or on some other device? 

Everyday
or almost
everyday		 A few
times a
week		 A few
times a
month		 Less often
Total gamers 21% 28% 27% 20%
Gamers ages 18-29 20 30 30 16
Gamers ages 30-49 20 26 25 24
Gamers ages 50-64 19 30 25 21
Gamers age 65+ 36 28 17 14
Source: Pew Internet Project
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How people respond to broken gadgets

During the course of trying to fix their broken technology, respondents reported a variety of attitudes, not all of them stemming from frustration. The majority (72%) of respondents said they were “confident” that they were on the right path during the course of trying to solve the problem. Fewer respondents harbored more negative feelings about fixing their devices: about half (48%) were “discouraged” and 40% were “confused” about the problems.

  %
CONFIDENT that you were on the right path to solving the problem 72%
IMPATIENT to solve the problem because you had important
uses for the broken technology		 59
DISCOURAGED at the amount of effort needed to fix the
problem		 48
CONFUSED by the information that you were getting 40
Source: Pew Internet Project
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59% or consumers get impatient when their electronics device breaks

59% of respondents reported being impatient to fix their devices, and the percentage was equal across demographic groups. Adults who are most likely to be impatient waiting for their devices to be fixed are those who had had the most devices fail, those who use their devices most, and those who rely more heavily on their devices for work or information. While emotions did not vary significantly according to the types of devices that failed, those who had more gadgets fail in the past 12 months were more likely to become impatient with fixing the problem. Respondents who had two or more devices fail in the past year were significantly more likely than those who had only one gadget fail to report being impatient to solve the problem. Similarly, those who had two devices fail were significantly more likely than those who had only one fail to be discouraged at the amount of effort needed to fix the problem.

Confident Impatient Discouraged Confused
1 failed device 75% 41% 44% 38%
2 failed devices 69 65 54 47
3-5 failed devices 68 70 51 41
Source: Pew Internet Project
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Game hardware and software generated $22 bln in 2008

Computer and video game industry hardware, software and peripheral sales climbed to $22 bln in 2008, with entertainment software sales comprising $11.7 bln of that total figure, a 22.9% jump over 2007, Entertainment Software Association announced. The industry set the new record, calculated by market-research firm NPD Group, on the strength of December 2008 sales, when industry revenue ($5.3 bln) topped $5 bln for the first time in any single month. By comparison, as recently as 1997, the industry generated $5.1 bln over the entire year. In 2008, total US video game console software sales reached $8.9 bln (189.0 mln units), PC game sales hit $701.4 mln (29.1 mln units), and portable software topped 2007’s record sales with $2.1 bln (79.5 mln units) in revenue. Overall, retailers sold approximately 297.6 mln computer and video games 2007.

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0.6% decrease in consumer electronics sales in 2009

Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting a drop in full-year factory sales to dealers for the first time in recent history, a 0.6% decrease to $170.9 bln for 2009. Digital TV continues to be the largest industry category, representing 15% of total industry shipment dollars. As the transition to digital television nears, unit shipments of DTVs will approach 35 mln in 2009, an increase of nearly 6% over 2008 shipments. LCD displays remain the top choice among consumers, representing 77% of total DTV units. Blu-ray players are expected to see major growth in 2009. With more content, new products and lower prices, Blu-ray revenues are projected to surpass $1.2 bln. The overall video game market should grow 11%, generating nearly $22 bln in revenue 2008, a new high mark for the category. Software continues to drive the gaming market, helped by a growing installed base of next-generation consoles. Gaming software revenues are expected to grow 18% to nearly $15 bln.

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US consumer electronics shipments to generate $171 bln in 2009

The consumer electronics industry is projected to generate $171 bln in US shipment revenues in 2009, according to Consumer Electronics Association. CEA’s estimate of final shipment revenues for 2008 showed the industry reached a new high of $172 bln, an increase of 5.4% over 2007. In 2009, overall, CEA projects that domestic shipment revenues will essentially remain flat at $171 bln, a decrease of 0.6% over 2008. The primary revenue driver for the industry continues to be digital TV displays, representing 15% of total industry shipment dollars. As the transition to digital television nears, unit shipments of DTVs will approach 35 mln in 2009, an increase of nearly 6% over 2008 shipments. LCD displays remain the top choice among consumers, representing 77% of total DTV units. Blu-ray players are expected to see major growth in 2009. With more content, new products and lower prices, Blu-Ray revenues are projected to surpass $1.2 bln.

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Canadians to spend $381 on electronics in 2008 holiday season

Canadians said they are planning to spend an average of $381 on electronic gifts for others. Men plan to spend more on consumer electronics than women, $342 to $216. The three most popular items Canadians said they would like to receive as a holiday gift in order are a flat-screen television (31%), laptop or desktop computer (19%) and GPS navigation system (14%). Other desired gifts include: digital cameras, kitchen appliances, mp3 players, video gaming consoles, and Blu-ray disc players.

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41% of US consumers think all TVs need a digital converter

Consumer Reports found that about 17% of Americans living in television households have at least one television set that will be affected by the digital transition, and 13% rely exclusively on over-the-air signals (OTA). Unless they take some action before February, nearly 19 mln Americans will be in households without television programming. While 93% of Americans indicated they are aware of the digital transition, consumers are still unclear about how the transition will affect them. 32% of consumers in households with at least one TV affected remain unaware they need to take action, and more than one quarter (28%) of those who will not have any functioning TV sets in their home next February do not know that they are affected by the transition.

About four in 10 consumers (41%) believe that ALL televisions will need a converter box to function properly. 29% believe that all households will need digital televisions to watch TV. 25% believe that every consumer must subscribe to cable, satellite or fiber TV to watch any television programming at all. 9% believe consumers will have to throw away all analog television sets.

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39% of internet users used a handheld device to go online

39% of internet users say they have used a handheld device to go online – the figure is 41% for home broadband users and 36% for home dial-up users. Given the dwindling number or home dial-up users, this means that some 86% of those who use a handheld to access the internet are broadband users. Although some cell phone networks today are capable of transmission rates of 200 kilobits per second (the FCC-defined threshold for a “first generation” broadband), it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine how many, according to the Pew Internet Project.

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70% of DVR owners say they cannot live without DVR

More than 70% of DVR owners say that they cannot live without their DVR, according to NDS. Asked to rank the relative importance of a variety of household appliances, DVR owners ranked the DVR as the third most indispensable item after the washing machine and the microwave oven. 89% of Americans, 81% of British, 80% of Australians and 78% of Italians all reported that the DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching television.

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Flat panel TV sales up 26% in North America in Q2 2008

Q2 2008 North American flat panel TV sales jumped 26% when compared to the Q1 2008 and 28% when compared to Q1 2007, according to DisplaySearch. 9.3 mln units were shipped in Q2 2008. LCD and Plasma TV technologies both posted strong sequential quarterly gains, rising 30% and 35%, respectively. The top selling brand was Samsung with total TV shipment share surging to a record 19.1% of all TV unit shipments in North America during the quarter.

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Premium Internet video to generate $6 bln by 2013

TV-based Internet video receivers and connected consumer electronics platforms will drive transactional revenues for premium Internet video services past $6 bln. U.S. consumers will spend over $6 bln for Internet video services by 2013, with direct-to-TV videos accounting for 75% of that revenue, according to Parks Associates.

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Half of US consumers not interested in BluRay players

Survey from ABI Research has revealed a widespread reluctance to commit to a Blu-ray player in the near future: over half of the 1000 respondents, citing other priorities, say they have no plans to purchase one; a further 23% are likely to buy, but not until sometime in 2009. While half of the respondents to our survey rated Blu-ray’s quality as much better than standard DVD, another 40% termed it only somewhat better, and most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players.

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75.8% of UK iPhone users are males

Country Total Mobile Market Smartphones iPhone
Male Female Male Female Male Female
EU3 50.6% 49.4% 69.4% 30.6% 72.3% 27.7%
France 49.2% 50.8% 70.9% 29.1% 67.3% 32.7%
Germany 53.7% 46.3% 69.9% 30.1% 71.2% 28.8%
UK 48.7% 51.3% 68.2% 31.8% 75.8% 24.2%
Source: comScore
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Most popular digital cameras by customer satisfaction in 2008

The Canon EOS Digital SLR, Canon PowerShot G, Fujifilm Finepix S, Lumix (Panasonic) DMC-TZ, Nikon D and Sony Cyber-shot T series rank highest in customer satisfaction with digital cameras in their respective segments, according to the J.D. Power and Associates. The Fujifilm Finepix S series ranks highest in the point and shoot segment with an index score of 757 on a 1,000-point scale, performing particularly well in picture quality, performance and ease of operation. Kodak model series also perform well in the segment and follow the Fujifilm Finepix S in the rankings with the Kodak V series (739), Kodak Z series (731) and Kodak M Series (727).

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Among premium point and shoot cameras, the Canon PowerShot G series and the Lumix (Panasonic) DMC-TZ series tie to rank highest, each receiving a score of 773. The Canon PowerShot, in particular, performs well in the picture quality and ease of operation factors. The Lumix (Panasonic) DMC-FZ series follows in the segment with a score of 766, receiving high ratings from customers in the performance factor. In the ultra slim segment, the Sony Cyber-shot T series leads with 794, performing particularly well in all four factors driving customer satisfaction. The Casio Exilim Zoom series (766) ranks second and the Fujifilm FinePix Z series closely follows to rank third with 761.

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The Canon EOS Digital SLR and Nikon D series both rank highest in a tie among DSLR cameras, each receiving a score of 823. The Canon EOS Digital SLR receives notably high ratings from customers in picture quality, while the Nikon D series—which ranks highest for a second consecutive year—performs particularly well in ease of operation, performance, and appearance and styling. The study finds that among features that owners want in their next camera, weatherproofing is mentioned most frequently by owners in both the point and shoot (67%), and premium point and shoot (68%) segments, while ultra slim owners desire 4 GB internal memory capacity and DSLR owners desire waterproofing (63%).

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65% of US households play video games, 38% have consoles, 40% are female

40% of US gamers are women, Entertainment Software Association says. 65% of American households play computer and video games. 38% of American homes have a video game console. The average game player is 35 years old. One out of four gamers are over age 50. Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (18%). 41% of Americans expect to purchase one or more games 2008. 94% of parents are present when games are purchased or rented. 88% of parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play. 63% of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives.