2008 consumer electronics sales seen up
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Growth in U.S. consumer electronics sales is likely to slow in 2008 but still come in at 6.1 percent, fueled by strong demand for products like televisions and personal audio devices, an industry trade group said on Monday.
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Worldwide semiconductor sales rose a projected 23 percent this year, less than forecast.
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With more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies fighting for the attention of 140,000 attendees at International CES, the competition to get noticed is fierce. Companies will parade their newest and hottest products and promise starry-eyed consumers and journalists imminent release dates for their gadgets, while the more daring keynote speakers give their predictions for the year ahead. Sometimes they&#39;re spot-on -- but other times they&#39;re way off the mark, as this&#160;look back at the class of 2007&#160;shows.The show kicked off in a big way with the&#160;unveiling by Sharp of its monster 108-inch LCD&#160;(liquid crystal display) TV. The set represented the biggest flat-panel TV developed -- a title it still holds today -- and came without a price but with the promise of availability during 2007. But wealthy consumers are still waiting. Sharp said recently that it is still working on plans for a commercial launch for the TV set.There was a lot of noise at the show about both&#160;Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. The battling high-definition video disc camps both claimed an advantage over the other and asserted that 2007 would be break-out year when their respective format left the rival in the dust. A year on and not much has changed. Consumer indifference and confusion over the formats has led many to stay away, while prices have collapsed leaving some wondering if any of the participants will ever be able to make money on either technology.One man who called the status quo was H.G. Lee, president of LG Electronics. Speaking at a news conference where he unveiled a&#160;dual-format machine from LG&#160;he predicted that both formats would be around for a good while longer and observed, &quot;The growth of this exciting new technology and industry is slower than it could be.&quot; So top marks to Lee, but that&#39;s perhaps not much consolation. While he was right about the immediate future of both formats, his company&#39;s relatively expensive dual-format player wasn&#39;t the hit he hoped.LG wasn&#39;t the only company trying to solve the format battle.&#160;Warner Bros. introduced its Total Hi Def disc&#160;that has a Blu-ray Disc layer on one side and an HD DVD layer on the other. The disc generated a lot of excitement because it would insulate consumers from the risks of backing the wrong format -- so it was a disappointment when Warner threw in the towel on the format before the year was out.CES often serves as a launch pad for new technologies. The results were mixed for two of those shown at CES 2007.Samsung came to CES 2007 with&#160;A-VSB, a mobile digital TV broadcasting system&#160;that offers a robust signal and fewer drop-outs to receivers on the move, and comes with a low installation price tag of a few tens of thousands of dollars per TV station. A-VSB also came with an aggressive roll-out schedule that would have put it on-air by the end of 2007 -- but as the year turns there&#39;s still no sign of commercial service.Things weren&#39;t so bad for Sony. It wowed visitors with prototype TVs based on new OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens. With a bright, rich and dynamic picture they were among the highlights of the show. Sony made good on its commercialization plans and put the set on sale in Japan on Dec. 1, where it sold out almost immediately despite the &#165;200,000 price tag. Sony is expected to unveil U.S. launch plans at CES 2008.With CES 2008 only days away now, the class of 2008 are putting the finishing touches to their announcements, predictions, and promises. The show is continuing to grow, so companies will need to make a bigger splash to catch the attention of attendees and media: In a year from now we&#39;ll know who stuck their necks out too far in the race to claim the CES headlines.&#160;
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WPP is upbeat on the outlook for  the advertising industry 2008 as it posts a rise in revenues.
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Sales of portable digital-audio players are booming, and IDC predicts the market will generate $58 billion by 2008. The research firm says Apple&#39;s iPod will continue to be a major participant
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Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co  said on Friday that sales at stores open at least 14 months rose 1.5 percent in December and affirmed its fiscal 2008 earnings outlook.
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Growth in U.S. consumer electronics  sales is likely to slow in 2008 but still come in at 6.1  percent, fueled by strong demand for products like televisions  and personal audio devices, an industry trade group said on  Monday.
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Few people today are buying UMPCs, but a new chip and lower prices could help by early 2008.
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Sales for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is expected to rise sharply in 2004, but decline slightly in 2005, according to a year-end consensus forecast released late Tuesday by the industry&#39;s largest trade group.
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Sony Corp.   said on  Wednesday it sees its electronics sales growth outpacing the  industry in the current fiscal year, fueled by demand for big  televisions and digital cameras, while a decline in component  pricing could benefit profits.
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U.S. sales of video game hardware  and software rose 28 percent in December from a year earlier as  holiday shoppers snapped up new consoles like Nintendo Co Ltd's   top-selling Wii, market research firm NPD said on  Thursday.
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The online retailer reported this week that its sales of consumer electronics surpassed book sales for the first time during the Thanksgiving weekend to become the top sales category on the site.
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Acer says a strong laptop market will push its 2008 sales up 35 percent over last year.
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Semiconductor sales were originally expected to rise by 6.4% over 2006 levels, according to a new study from Gartner, but now are expected to grow by only 2.5%.
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China&#39;s consumer electronics market will grow by almost 90 percent to $94 billion by 2007 as manufacturers shift to high-end digital products and away from more basic items like toys and watches, an industry publication forecasts.
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Shipments of personal computers this year will be higher than previously anticipated, boosted by demand from businesses, research firm IDC said Monday.
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Investors will get a first look at whether early strong holiday sales for electronics are translating into higher profits when Best Buy Co. Inc.  reports its quarterly results next week.