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NPD Reports Digital Technology Drove Holiday Sales

Staff On Jan 22 2001 - 8:00am

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -As predicted last month by marketing information provider NPD Intelect Market Tracking, holiday 2000 has proved a major success for a select group of consumer electronics and technology categories.

Several of these categories experienced sizzling triple-digit sales growth. NPD Intelect's Early Indicator Panel, which consists of 11 major national retailers and mail-order houses, tracked a diverse range of 47 CE categories and 39 technology categories. The holiday sales results cover the period from Thanksgiving through Christmas 2000.

Overall, the CE categories were down 0.3 percent in unit sales during the holiday period. However, because new high-ticket digital products sold well, the group experienced dollar sales growth of 5.6 percent.

Despite slow desktop PC sales, several technology categories performed well during the holiday period, and sales among the NPD Intelect composite of 39 key technology categories were up marginally by 1.5 percent in units and 2.7 percent in dollars.

The fastest growing CE categories, the market research firm said, were personal video recorders, DVD players, home-theater-in-a-box, digital cameras and cellular phones. Units and dollars in several of these categories doubled or tripled.

"DVD has been the hottest new product launch in consumer electronics history and has driven new growth in many home theater product categories, particularly home theater in-a-box audio systems," commented audio and video tracking director Jim Hirschberg. "Personal video recorders are growing fast, but this is still a new category that is not yet fully understood by consumers.

"Other digital audio products-including MP3 players, CD recorders and portable CD players-sold well and more than compensated for declines in older, cassette-based products."

In the technology segment, desktop and printer sales decreased in both units and dollars. The big winners were those products that embrace portability. Personal digital assistants continued to skyrocket in units and dollars, followed by CD-RW drives and notebooks.

"While desktops are slowing in sales, we have seen the rise in portable products, such as notebooks, PDAs, cellular phones, and even headset stereos," said technology products VP Sima Vasa, "all of which support the harried U.S. professional and personal lifestyle."

Hot CE Categories: Holiday 2000 vs. 1999

Category	Units Percent Change	Dollars Percent Change
PVRs	300.8%	211.0%
DVD players	194.4%	102.1%
Home-theater-in-a-box	104.1%	139.5%
Digital cameras	74.9%	42.6%
Cellular phones	72.1%	44.2%

Key Technology Categories: Holiday 2000 vs. 1999

Category	Units Percent Change	Dollars Percent Change
PDAs	202.2%	165.0%
CD-RW drives	88.5%	66.8%
Notebooks	6.7%	6.9%
Desktops	-6.4%	-0.2%
Printers	-14.6%	-22.4%

Source: NPD Intelect Market Tracking

cTWICE 2001

U.S. HDTV Product Shipment Forecasts Units in 1,000s

Product Type	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
HDTV projection displays	340	570	885	1,150	1,350
Integrated HDTV projection sets (tuner + display)	37	85	120	165	220
Direct-view (CRT) HDTV displays	65	250	620	1,145	1,890
Integrated direct-view HDTV sets (tuner + display)	20	50	85	135	290
Standard-definition direct-view (CRT) digital TV sets	40	380	750	1,290	2,210
Flat-panel HDTV digital TV sets	7	20	50	85	130
HDTV 8-VSB set-top boxes	40	110	350	570	885
SDTV 8-VSB set-top boxes	55	400	850	1,500	3,000
Digital-capable A/V receivers	1,500	3,220	5,719	7,735	9,504
U.S. total annual shipments (units in 1,000s)	2,104	5,085	9,429	13,775	19,479
Annual percentage growth	-	141.7%	85.4%	46.1%	41.4%