CES 2009: CEA Sees Industry Sales Down 0.6% In 2009
Drop Would Be Fifth Year-to-Year Decline for Consumer Electronics in 40 Years
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/8/2009 6:40:00 AM
Las Vegas—Consumer Electronics Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro said the industry group is projecting an overall drop in sales of 0.6% for 2009 compared with last year.
For 2008, CEA had projected 6% year-to-year growth but ended the year with sales up 5.4%, said Shapiro, delivering opening remarks here Thursday at the trade group’s annual CES show.
This year, “we believe overall revenue growth is unlikely,” he said, and CEA is projecting a 0.6% drop in revenue compared with 2008. The industry expects to return to positive industry growth in 2010, he said.
Even given the troubled economy, he said, CE companies have opportunities to deliver home-entertainment products to budget-minded families who opt for “staycations.”
“In our industry innovation is the moon that will cause the economic tide to rise,” Shapiro said. “We do not seek a government handout or bailout money.”
The consumer-electronics industry generates about $700 billion in products sales worldwide.
Shapiro said the industry previously has experienced year-over-year declines in only four years in the last four decades: in 1974-75, 1991 and 2001.
“We know 2009 will be a difficult year,” Shapiro said. “But we will emerge stronger.”
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