Arlington, Va. — Factory-level audio sales surged in the first two months of the year because of doublet-digit growth in portable audio, which accounted for 64.8 percent of the audio industry’s sales during the first two months of the year, Consumer Electronics Association statistics show.
Industrywide audio sales rose 9.8 percent in February to $611.3 million, and for the year-to-date by 20.3 percent to $1.4 billion, the statistics show. Home and after-market car audio sales, however, fell at steep double-digit rates for the month and year-to-date.
Here’s what happened by segment
Portable audio: Sales were up in February by 72.6 percent to $394.1 million, and for the year-to-date by 78.2 percent to $907.4 billion. The statistics include home tabletop radios, which in 2005 accounted for less than $200 million in factory-level sales.
Home components: Sales slid 43.3 percent in February to $37.3 million and by 37.7 percent for the year-to-date to $81.7 million.
Home systems: Sales dropped 52 percent in February to $26.1 million, and by 44.6 percent for the year-to-date to $76.8 million.
Total home audio: Combined sales of home components and systems shrank 47.2 percent in February to $63.4 million, and for the year-to-date by 41.2 percent to $158.5 million.
Aftermarket autosound: Sales dropped 26.1 percent for the month to $153.9 million, and for the year-to-date by 13.3 percent $333.6 million. The statistics include satellite radio plug-and-play tuners that can be played back in the home, car or boomboxes.
