Minoru from Novo, the world's first consumer 3D webcam is displayed at the official press event of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the world's biggest show of high-tech gadgetry gets under way here this week the Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting an end to the boom years of double-digit sales growth.

As the world's biggest show of high-tech gadgetry gets under way here this week the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is forecasting an end to the boom years of double-digit sales growth.

The CEA, which has brought some 2,700 exhibitors to the glitzy Las Vegas strip for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opening on Thursday, said consumer electronics sales are expected to hit 724 billion dollars in 2009.

That's up 4.3 percent from the 694 billion dollars in 2008 but a steep drop from the 13.7 percent growth posted last year and the double-digit growth rates of previous years.

While the CEA forecast that sales of consumer electronics will slow in 2009 due to the global economic downturn it noted that they will "still outperform most other sectors."

The slowdown in 2009 is expected to affect products virtually across the board, from mobile phones to televisions to computers.

Mobile phones accounted for 26.7 percent of total revenue last year but sales are expected to slow in 2009, the CEA forecast, growing by just 2.1 percent this year over last year to 1.2 billion units.

The green light on the Powermat wireless charger indicates that the iPod and two telephones on the mat are charging, during the media preview of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the world's biggest show of high-tech gadgetry gets under way here this week the Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting an end to the boom years of double-digit sales growth.

Mobile phone sales grew by 13 percent in 2008 and by 15.4 percent in 2007.

The CEA said that although mobile phone growth was expected to slow "the macro trend of work, play and communicate anywhere, anytime will continue to drive innovation and CE sales."

Television sales are expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2009 to 232 million units, down from the 10.5 percent and 9.1 percent growth rates of the previous two years.

"Liquid crystal displays will grow slower in 2009 but will still achieve double digit unit and revenue growth worldwide," the CEA said. "Plasma displays are forecast to achieve positive unit growth and negative revenue growth."

The CEA's 2009 outlook for computer sales is somewhat better, with growth forecast at 8.2 percent over 2008 but still a significant drop from the 17.8 percent growth of last year.

One bright spot is laptops.

"Laptop PCs are expected to continue to generate double digit increases in units and revenue in 2009," the CEA said. "Desktops will experience declines in both units and revenue."

The ratio of laptop PC sales to desktop PC sales is expected to continue to widen this year with 63 percent of the computers sold in 2009 expected to be laptops, the CEA said.

It said that in 2005, the ratio of desktop PC unit sales to laptop PC unit sales was 58 percent to 42 percent.

People check their email before the start of the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the world's biggest show of high-tech gadgetry gets under way here this week the Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting an end to the boom years of double-digit sales growth.

The CEA said MP3/digital media players were expected to generate "strong sales" in 2009 along with portable navigation GPS units.

"Unit sales of portable navigation grew 55 percent in 2008 and are expected to grow another 22 percent in 2009," the CEA said.

It said the game console market is expected to grow by 5.4 percent in units and 1.1 percent in revenue in 2009.

Blu-ray DVD sales were expected to nearly double in both unit sales and revenue in 2009, the CEA said, with North America accounting for the largest percentage of Blu-ray sales followed by Western Europe and Japan.

The CEA said emerging powers China, Russia, Brazil and India now account for nearly one-fourth of worldwide consumer electronics revenue (24 percent) while North America and Western Europe combined account for 37.7 percent.

As for trends to watch this year, the trade association said to expect products that were environmentally friendly in terms of the materials used, packaging, energy efficiency and recycling potential.

The trade association said the trend towards "no strings attached" wireless devices would accelerate along with increased touch screen and voice activation technology.

© 2009 AFP