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Report: 2006 U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales to Hit Record $135.4 Billion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 4, 2006 - 7:48am.
Arlington, Va. - U.S. factory sales of consumer electronics will reach a new high of $135.4 billion this year, an 8% increase over 2005's $125.9 billion total, according to projections from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) trade group. Sales of digital televisions, which are forecasted to reach 18 million units and $23 billion, next-generation video game consoles ($14 billion) and MP3 players ($4.5 billion) are projected to lead the record growth of the industry. The CEA expects 30% of all MP3 players sold in 2006 to have video playback capability. "MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion. Trends in 2006 should be no different," said CEA director of industry analysis Sean Wargo.
tags: Reports | U.S | Record | Electronics |

Study: Consumers Increasingly Buying Electronics Online

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 6, 2005 - 3:15am.
Arlington, Va. -- Online shopping for consumer electronics products is gaining in popularity, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). While an average of 5% of all consumer electronics purchases are made online, certain product categories -- including personal computing, digital cameras, wireless home networking devices and portable music players -- each make more than 10% of their sales through online channels. According to more than 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed by CEA, online consumer electronics shoppers report higher satisfaction with the purchase process than those who visited traditional brick and mortar stores, citing convenience, order accuracy, product variety, product availability and product information among the top reasons. The survey also found that consumers who buy at least some of their products online spend 67% more each year than those who do not make any purchases online. On average, the online buyer spent $1,500 on consumer electronics purchases, with 29% of that spent over the Internet.
tags: Internet | Consumers | Online | Study | Electronics |

Game Retailer Electronics Boutique Acquires Spain's Jump Ordenadores

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 23, 2005 - 6:52am.
West Chester, Penn. -- Video game retailer Electronics Boutique announced on Monday that it has acquired Spanish retailer Jump Ordenadores. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Jump, which operates 141 stores in several Spanish provinces, currently sells PCs and related products, and will introduce video game hardware and software over the next several months. Electronics Boutique said the purchase will give it an established foothold in the fourth-largest video game market in Europe. Pennsylvania-based Electronics Boutique agreed in April to a $1.4 billion acquisition by rival GameStop, which will give the combined company a total of more than 4,000 stores worldwide.
tags: Games | Spain | Electronics | Boutique | Jump Ordenadores |

Electronics Makers Think Fee for Antipiracy Technology is Too High

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 25, 2005 - 4:00am.
Amsterdam -- A number of consumer electronics makers are unhappy with the high license fee being proposed by companies that invented technology to secure the transfer of music and other media to cell phones and other portable devices, Reuters reported on Friday. The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has proposed a $1 per device charge for its antipiracy technology. "This kind of price is certainly unreasonable. It's not in proportion to the economic value," one senior executive at a top five mobile phone maker told Reuters, who also pointed out that the $684 million in royalties from each cell phone sold last year is greater than total Web music sales last year. "This is too expensive," added a senior executive at a global top three consumer electronics firm. The chairman of the digital rights management working group at the OMA admitted that the licensing terms "have kicked up a lot of dust. People are debating if these are reasonable terms," Jan van der Meer told Reuters. Companies that developed the antipiracy technology include InterTrust, ContentGuard, Sony, Matsushita and Philips -- who pooled their patents and are represented by a licensing group called MPEG LA.
tags: Electronics | Antipiracy | Too High |

HP Unveils Branded Apple iPod, Other Digital Consumer Electronics

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 30, 2004 - 11:20am.
Miami -- PC maker HP on Friday unveiled a branded iPod digital music player as part of its new consumer digital electronics line that includes cameras and photo printers, home theater projectors and entertainment-based laptop and desktop PCs. In partnership with Apple, HP will sell a 20GB iPod for $299 and 40GB model for $399 -- the same price Apple charges -- and also offer "printable tattoo" water-resistant skins for the players that feature either album cover art or consumers' own personalized artwork or photos. HP is currently taking pre-orders for the branded iPods and will begin shipping them on Sept. 15.
tags: iPod | Apple | HP | Electronics | Unveils | Digital Consumer |

Napster Signs Distribution Deal with U.K. Electronics Retailer Dixons

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 6, 2004 - 2:54am.
London -- Music download service Napster announced this week that it has signed an exclusive agreement with U.K.-based consumer electronics firm Dixons to help with the launch of its U.K. service, planned for later this summer. Under the terms of the deal, Dixons will promote Napster through Dixons, Currys, The Link and PC World stores throughout the U.K. Furthermore, Dixons will preinstall Napster 2.0 software on all of its own-brand PCs, the company said in a statement. Napster President Brad Duea described the deal as an "extremely important" one for his company. Although Napster has referred to the agreement as "multiyear", neither a full timescale nor financial details have been released. Santa Clara, California-based Roxio, which owns former peer-to-peer network Napster, previously planned to roll out a music-download service in the U.K earlier this spring; problems with licensing agreements, however, forced the company to delay the launch until this summer. Rival Apple also plans to launch a version of its iTunes Store in the U.K. by the end of the year.
tags: Deals | Napster | U.K | Electronics | Dixons |

Electronics Retailer Circuit City Buys Digital Music Firm MusicNow

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 2, 2004 - 8:37am.
Richmond, Va. -- Electronics retail store chain Circuit City announced that it will purchase the assets of Chicago-based digital music subscription service developer MusicNow (formerly FullAudio). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. MusicNow operates the digital music subscription services offered on websites for Clear Channel-owned radio stations, and also markets its library of 400,000 tracks to Best Buy and SBC Yahoo DSL customers. Under the deal, MusicNow will retain its current operations and staff, and Circuit City will integrate the company's platform on its CircuitCity.com site as well as within its 600 national Superstores.
tags: Digital Music | Electronics | Circuit | City |

Philips Consumer Electronics CEO Departs; Division's Future in Doubt

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 11, 2003 - 5:21am.
Atlanta -- Larry Blanford, CEO of Atlanta-based Philips Consumer Electronics, will leave the company at the end of this month and be replaced by Reinier Jens, head of the Northern Europe division of Philips Consumer Electronics. Blanford, a former executive with Maytag, joined Philips three years ago. Recently, Netherlands-based Philips announced that it will lay off about one-third of its employees in the Consumer Electronics Division by the end of the year and that the operation will be shut down entirely if it does not reach profitability within the next several quarters.
tags: Philips | CEO | Electronics | Doubt |

Nine Consumer Electronics Firms Unite to Promote DVD-RAM Format

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2003 - 7:29am.
Las Vegas -- Nine consumer electronics firms on Monday announced the formation of a trade group that will work to promote the DVD-RAM recordable DVD format over the competing DVD+RW format. Companies joining the RAM Promotion Group include Hitachi, HLDS, Hitachi Maxell Ltd., LG Electronics, Matsushita (Panasonic), Samsung, TEAC Corporation, Toshiba and Victor Company. The companies are also members of the Recordable DVD Council, another trade group that supports DVD-RAM and DVD-RW formats developed by the DVD Forum. The RAM Promotion Group cited NPD Group data, saying 59.2% percent of DVD recorders sold in the U.S. in roughly the last three years have supported DVD-RAM. The group's main rivals include members of the DVD+RW Alliance, such as PC makers Dell, H-P and Apple; firms including Sony and Pioneer have released products that support both competing formats.
tags: Electronics | Unite | Nine Consumer | DVD-RAM |

Japanese Electronics Firms Unveil Home Stereos Than Can Download Music

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 21, 2003 - 3:46am.
Tokyo -- Four Japanese electronics firms -- Sony, Pioneer, Sharp and Kenwood -- on Tuesday introduced separate products developed as part of a joint venture to create home stereos that can download music without the need of a PC, the Associated Press reported. The joint venture, called Any Music Planning, developed the Linux-based software the devices share in common. The stereos, which will initially go on sale in Japan in 2004, will be able to download music over a broadband connection through LabelGate, an online service that has licenses from Japanese major labels and rights to limited Western music. "Ultimately, our dream is to make the service a worldwide standard," Any Music CEO Fujio Noguchi told AP.
tags: Downloads | Japanese | Musics | Electronics | Unveil |

Following Rivals' Lead, Dell Moves Into Consumer Electronics Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 25, 2003 - 10:45am.
Round Rock, Texas -- Following the lead of rivals Gateway and HP, PC maker Dell announced on Thursday new Dell consumer electronics products -- including a digital music player, online music service and multifunction LCD television -- that will be available from its online store in time for the holiday shopping season. The company said its online music store will be comparable to Apple's iTunes Store, and that pricing and additional details on the products will be released later. Dell also announced plans to release proprietary software that will turn its PCs into digital entertainment centers. The Dell Media Experience will facilitate playback of music files, adding music to photo slideshows, and watching DVDs video clips.
tags: Market | Dell | Electronics | Rivals' Lead |

Nasdaq to Delist Shares of Bankrupt Consumer Electronics Firm Sonicblue

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2003 - 3:38am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Consumer electronics firm Sonicblue, which makes the ReplayTV line of digital video recorders and Rio line of MP3 players, said on Friday it received notice that the Nasdaq will delist its shares on April 2 as a result of the company's filing for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sonicblue said it will not appeal the decision. The company announced last week that it would declare bankruptcy and is seeking to sell off its ReplayTV, Rio and GoVideo businesses. Sonicblue said then it had buyers willing to acquire the assets for a combined $52.5 million.
tags: Nasdaq | Bankrupt | Electronics | Sonicblue |

Consumer Electronics Sales $96.2 Billion in 2002; '03 Sales Seen As Flat

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 9, 2003 - 7:12am.
Las Vegas -- Sales of consumer electronics are projected to rise 3.5 percent in 2003, reaching a record $99.5 billion, according the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), a trade group of device manufacturers. 2002 sales were estimated at $96.2 billion -- a slight increase from CEA's initial 2002 projection made in January 2002 -- and represented a 3.7 percent increase over 2001's sales figures. DVD player sales reached 17.6 million units, up 39 percent over 2002; CEA predicts a 14 percent increase in 2003, reaching 20.1 million units on dollar sales of $2.6 billion. Additionally, the group reported that 2.68 million digital TVs were sold in 2002, and expects 3.8 million to be sold in 2003. Sales of MP3 players totaled 1.7 million, a 56 percent increase over 2001, and are expected to rise another 26 percent to 2.1 million units for 2003. "The future of our industry is bright, even as some individual companies face challenges" said CEA chief executive Gary Shapiro. "Twenty years ago our industry sales were $14.1 billion. In 2003, we will be close to $100 billion in sales. Despite economic uncertainties, consumers are finding compelling reasons to upgrade from analog to new digital products."
tags: Sales | Electronics | Consumer | Flat |

Digital Gadgets Take Center Stage At Consumer Electronics Show This Week

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 6, 2003 - 7:35am.
Las Vegas -- The Associated Press on Monday provided a preview of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the annual gadget convention being held this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. The article posits that CES continues to thrive while other tech conventions like Comdex and TechXNY have faltered, because the PC industry is now flat while the market for gadgets that converge advanced consumer electronics with PC functionality continues to grow. Among innovations that will be unveiled by consumer electronics firms this week are Panasonic's 1GB flash memory card, Intel and Sonicblue's portable video player, wireless "smart displays" from ViewSonic and Philips, and a number of car satellite TV receivers and digital home gateways.
tags: Electronics | Consumer | Digital Gadgets |