Arlington, Va. – The CEA corrected its first-quarter audio sales statistics to show that factory-level audio sales rose a modest 1.3 percent in March to $854.9 million but dropped 6.9 percent in the first quarter to $2.17 billion because of a 17.7 percent drop in first-quarter portable-audio sales to $1.13 billion.
In March, all major categories but aftermarket car audio were up, and for the quarter, all categories but portables were up, CEA found.
Home audio system sales rose in March by 5.3 percent to $92.1 million and by 29.3 percent for the quarter to $212.3 million. Home audio component sales rose 3.2 percent in March to $104.6 million and by 0.9 percent for the quarter to $255.2 million. Aftermarket car audio sales fell 4.5 percent in March to $201 million but were up for the quarter by 5.7 percent $576 million. March’s portable audio sales were up 2.8 percent to $457.2 million but were off 17.7 percent for the quarter to $1.13 billion.
