2004 Consumer Electronics Sales to Top 2003 Record

Online Staff -- Electronic News, 9/7/2004

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) forecasts 2004 sales to surpass $108 billion, breaking the record mark set in 2003, the trade group said today.

According to revised figures released today by the CEA, sales of consumer electronics products exceeded $100 billion in 2003, setting a new record and marking a fourfold increase over the 2002 growth rate.

"Consumer demand for digital products continues to drive consumer electronics sales beyond our earlier projections," Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, said in a statement. "Consumer enthusiasm going into the fourth quarter of 2003 further catapulted overall sales.

"Across the board, consumer electronics sales exceeded projections as consumers saw the right prices at the right time. Even as we celebrate record sales in 2003, we expect that 2004 will be an even bigger year as our growth rate continues to climb," Shapiro said.

Almost every product category performed better than anticipated in 2003 by $100 million to $200 million, according to the CEA's new figures. Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of PCs and digital televisions (DTV) stood as two of the main categories driving final 2004 figures above CEA's original forecast of $96.3 billion. PCs held strong as the largest single product category with sales exceeding $15 billion, as home information products remained the biggest consumer electronics sector with sales over $38 million in 2003.

"Huge numbers of flat panel and rear projection DTV sets were sold last year," Sean Wargo, a CEA senior industry analyst, said in a statement. "In fact, sales of just flat panel TVs topped $2 billion, and the numbers will continue to increase in 2004."

Wireless phones also contributed to strong overall sales in 2003. Sales of wireless phones were over $9 billion and they are expected to top $10 billion by the end of 2004, according to Wargo.

Sales of digital products will again take the industry to new heights in 2004, he noted. "MP3 and DTV will help drive 2004 sales to a record estimated $108 billion. Total TV revenues (analog and digital combined) are expected to rise 17 percent this year to $13.6 billion, marking the biggest invoiced total for TVs in history."