• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Strata-gee
  • Contact Us
  • Free Newsletter
  • Sponsor Strata-gee
  • Privacy Policy
  • Latest Posts
  • Strategy
  • Technology
  • Products
  • People
  • Statistics
  • Financial
  • Legal
  • Economic Data
  • Shows & Events

Strata-gee.com

Strategy in TECH...

AudioControl Single Zone Amps
You are here: Home / Associations / In Semi-Annual Update, CEA Says Industry Sales Will Hit New High

In Semi-Annual Update, CEA Says Industry Sales Will Hit New High

August 20, 2014 by Ted Leave a Comment

CEA logoThe Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) maintains a semi-annually updated forecast for all major categories of consumer electronics and has announced the results of their latest update for July saying the industry will hit another new high watermark in industry-wide sales. In a  minor revision of their initial January 2014 forecast, the CEA now says total industry shipments in dollars will total $211.3 billion.

What product categories are driving this growth? See more below…


The report from the CEA, called the U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts 2010-2015, is generally optimistic, not only overall – but in most of its category forecasts. The report is based on a consensus of participating companies forecasting shipments to dealers, with a factor applied to approximate the entire industry. Many companies use this report as a benchmark for the industry.

As good as the overall growth was, we couldn’t help but notice the declining rates of growth from this, the industry’s prime business tracker. Many would consider such slow growth a possible red flag.

Sonance James Small Aperture

Slow going ahead…

After showing industry sales growth of 7.7% in 2011, the growth rate dropped to 4.4% in 2012. For 2013, sales only grew 1.8% to $207.2 billion. The sales results for 2013 have been firmed up, but it appears that the CEA is anticipating the industry stuck in a low 1%-2% growth rate for the foreseeable future. The estimate for 2014 is just 2% over the $207 billion level of sales in 2013 – and estimated to grow only 1.2% in 2015 to $214 billion…another record.Graphic of CE industry's overall sales

Some would say that this low rate of growth is tracking the overall U.S. economy’s low Gross Domestic Product growth, which for a couple of years now has been stuck in a 1% – 2% quarterly range. Still, most economists would tell you that this is not a healthy or positive long-term growth rate for GDP.

The hot five growth categories…


The hot categories driving industry sales, according to the CEA, is 3D printers, health & fitness devices, smart watches, smart thermostats, and Ultra HD television displays. According to the association, these top 5 growth categories – the “emerging technologies” – grew a walloping 242% in 2014, year-over-year.

Not only that, but the CEA says these categories will grow an additional 108% in 2015, contributing almost $5 billion to the CEA’s overall numbers. According to the trade association, “That total is an astounding jump from just two years ago, when revenue from these categories was too small to track.”Photo of 3D Printer at CE Week 2014

Crestron Infra-bass

“There has never been a more exciting time for the technology consumer,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “Across the consumer electronics industry, companies are packing more innovative features than ever into products that have quickly become indispensable – even as the industry continues to introduce breakthrough innovations that are capturing the hearts, minds and imaginations of consumers across the nation. Emerging tech categories including wearable devices, Ultra HD TV and 3D printers are generating tremendous consumer excitement and cementing their place as the next generation of ‘must have’ products.”

Other significant categories…

The CEA highlighted a couple of other categories it considers important to the industry. Certainly, video falls into this designation. And while the association sought to put a positive spin on things, the overall numbers for this category are sobering.

Video was once the primary engine driving the industry. It has dropped to now being the third most significant category in consumer electronics. The CEA notes that, “Innovations within the television category will help drive sales this year, as consumers choose larger screen sizes and premium display features to upgrade their home video experience.”Photo of Sharp Aquos TV

Video – a shrinking giant…


Overall, video sales are estimated to come in at $18.4 billion in 2014…down 5% from 2013. LCD flat panel TVs will carry the brunt of the load, only flat compared to last year with sales of $17.3 billion.

And what about the growth driver for the video category, Ultra HD TV? Sales will only reach about $1.9 billion – a 517% increase – but a small fraction of the overall industry sales nonetheless.

The big two…

Mobile Connected Devices – aka smartphones and tablets – will continue their dominance of CE according to the association. Representing a full 35.1% of total industry revenues, about all the association could say of note is that their rate of growth is beginning to slow.Photo of 20-inch Panasonic Tablet

Smartphones revenues are expected to hit $46 billion, up a full 7% from $43 billion last year. Tablets, on the other hand, will see revenues come in at $25.6 billion – but this is actually down 3% from sales last year.

Other highlighted categories:

  • Audio – The hot categories here are the usual suspects: headphones (revenues expected to hit $1.4 billion or 20% over last year); Bluetooth wireless speakers ($650 million, up 69%); and soundbars ($611 million, up 17%).We are hearing anecdotally from several players in the headphone game that headphone sales may have crested and numbers may begin to show a downturn.
  • Automotive electronics – The only good news here is that with the increase in auto sales, factory installed units are expected to grow to revenues of $11 billion – up 20% over last year.
  • Gaming consoles – Thanks to all the major console manufacturers releasing updated next-generation units, revenues in the category are expected to grow to $4.8 billion, up 56% over the previous year – but still below historical highs.

Want to know more?

The CEA’s U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts 2010-2015 is published twice every year in January and July. CEA members can get a full copy at no charge. Non-members can purchase their own copy for $2,000 by following this link to the CEA store.

Share this post:

  • Tweet
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • More
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Associations, Industry Trends, News, Research, Statistics, Tech Trends Tagged With: 3D printers, 4K Ultra HDTV, audio, CEA, fitness, smart thermostats, smart watches, smartphones, tablets, video

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Sign-Up for Our FREE Newsletter

loader

Latest Posts

T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…

**NEW Update 6/13/25** - See a Selection of Tariff Programs from Around the … [Read More...] about T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…

Multiple Executive Changes Announced by Masimo; COO Muhsin to Resign July 1

In a new Form-8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on … [Read More...] about Multiple Executive Changes Announced by Masimo; COO Muhsin to Resign July 1

  • T-Day+1: Tariffs…And So It Begins…
  • A Dramatic Finale: Judge Orders Lutron to Pay GeigTech *Double Damages,* Interest & Costs
  • I’ve Gone Fishing…
  • In Its Boldest Move Yet, AVPro Global Acquires Control Solutions Maker RTI

Categories

Sponsors

Crestron Infra-Bass
AudioControl Single Zone Amps
Sonance James Small Aperture
Savant
Oasys Residential Technology Group

Tag Cloud

acquisition Amazon Apple AudioControl B&W Bowers & Wilkins CEDIA CEDIA Expo CES Control4 Core Brands COVID-19 Crestron D&M Holdings Denon Emerald Expositions Foxconn Gibson Brands Gibson Guitar Google Henry Juszkiewicz Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. housing starts Integra Joe Kiani LG Marantz Masimo Nortek OLED Onkyo Panasonic patent infringement Pioneer Samsung Savant Sharp smart home SnapAV Snap One Sonos Sony Sound United SpeakerCraft Toshiba

Footer

Got News?

HEY PR & Marketing Pros: Have NEWS for Strata-gee readers?

Send it to: HotNews@strata-gee.com

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Sponsor Strata-gee

Strata-gee Ads

Archives

Translate

Ted Green Bio

A former dealer, manufacturer, distributor & more. Focusing on business strategy, my goal is to help you make better decisions for greater success.

Follow Ted Green

  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2025 Strata-gee.com · The Stratecon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved · Log in

%d