Worldwide CE Sales Approach $1 Trillion

By John Laposky On Jan 17 2011 - 6:01am

LAS VEGAS – Global retail sales of consumer electronics will approach $1 trillion in 2011, riding two solid years of growth, predicted the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

CEA industry analysis director Steve Koenig said global sales hit $873 billion in 2010, up 13 percent from 2009, a year in which the worldwide economic crisis caused sales to drag 9 percent year over year. A “very bullish” Koenig predicted sales of $964 billion in 2011, 10 percent higher than in 2010, and added that he “would not be surprised at all” if the figure topped $1 trillion for the first time.

Much of the growth is being driven by developing markets such as the Middle East and China, a trend that CEA sees continuing. But after a 2009 that saw regional CE sales fall in every geographic region CEA defines, every region showed some growth in 2010, with the exclusion of flat sales in Japan in Eastern Europe.

Growth leaders by percentage included Africa (up 70 percent), the Middle East (25 percent), China (24 percent) and Asia (17 percent.) North American sales were up 8 percent year over year.

In addition, every region is expected to show growth in 2011, with Western Europe leading the way at 23 percent.

Technologies leading the global growth spurt in 2010 included: smartphones, which contributed $51 billion more to CE revenue than the previous year; mobile PCs, including notebooks and tablets ($22.9 billion more than 2009), and LCD TVs ($20.6 billion more.)

Looking ahead, 2011 smartphones, mobile PCs and LCD TVs will gain another $88 billion in combined revenue.