CES 2009: I don’t want it, I NEED it!
Some consumer electronics goods have leapfrogged from the “I want it” category to the “I need it” category. Smartphones, computers and the new category of netbooks fit that bill neatly, a pair of Consumer Electronics Association officials say.
Speaking on the eve of the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Steve Koenig, a consumer electronics industry analyst, and Shawn DuBravac, a CEA economist, painted a semibright picture for the gadget industry in 2009. The CEA organizes CES.
“Consumer electronics is a necessity, not a luxury,” Koenig said Tuesday during a press briefing.
The Top 10 list for fastest-growing consumer electronics products in 2009:
1. OLED displays (organic light emitting diode) — In other words, flat-screen TVs and computer monitors.
2. E-readers — Think Amazon.com’s Kindle, Sony Corp.’s eReader and iRex Technologies’ iLiad.
3. HD Flash camcorders — This includes the Flip camera, and others.
4. Netbooks/notebooks - They’re laptop “light” and usually let users connect to the Internet by Wi-Fi and use word processing and other basic features. Their prices fall in the $300 to $400 range.
5. Climate systems/communicating thermostats — Control your home’s environment digitally and remotely.
6. Next-generation digital video disc players — Blu-ray has won this one.
7. LCD TV (liquid-crystal display) with 120 megahertz+ refresh rate — This is better than what you have today.
8. Portable navigation (that is traffic compatible) — A GPS in your car that knows how to get around that wreck three miles ahead of you.
9. MP3 players with wireless connectivity — Apple Inc.’s iPod Touch has this today. Look for others to follow.
10. HTIB/Blu-ray — Home theater in a box. Need I say more?
Four big trends to watch in the consumer electronics this year are:
1. “Green” as a purchase factor:
Consumers are willing to pay a premium for items that have legitimate reasons to be classified “green,” Koenig said. He added that consumers admit to being very confused about what “green” means and are skeptical of many claims by manufacturers.
Everyone should pay attention to the practice of “greenwashing.” This includes watching a company like General Motors Corp., which is advertising a “green” car (the electric Chevrolet Volt) although it is not yet being manufactured.
Women are likelier than men to be sensitive to “green” products, Koenig suggested. “Perhaps it’s a mother’s connection to Mother Earth,” he said.
Look also for services offering recycled and reused electronics, he said.
2. Evolving command, control and display:
People want new ways to interact with information, DuBravac said. Look for more touch screens, voice commands, hand gesture control (think Nintendo’s Wii game system) and even thought-command controls in the year ahead.
“Voice and touch will be omnipresent,” Koenig said.
Also look for more mobile phones with the ability to control your home-entertainment systems and otherwise leveraging the home networks that are being built in consumers’ homes.
3. Embedded Internet:
Look for more vehicles with the ability to connect to the Internet on the go and more kitchens with computers hanging on the wall. Updating shopping lists and family calendars and accessing music players are a few of things people will be doing without leaving the kitchen, DuBravac said.
4. (No) Strings Attached:
While the wireless trend continues, look for expanded battery capacity to make more devices cordless. At the same time, look for more services to be connected to your computer networks. These may be advertising supported, subscription-based or even free, DuBravac said.
Time and place shifting, something Sling Media’s Slingbox does so well, will continue to evolve. (The Slingbox, if you didn’t already know, is a set-top box that lets you stream programming from your home cable, satellite system, digital video disc player, or videocassette recorder from anywhere with a high-speed internet connection.) People will use their home networks to share digital content across their abodes and the toy industry will continue to build more learning opportunities into the playroom.
Other trends to watch in 2009 include:
* 3D cameras and Web cameras.
* Mobile, location-based services and advertising.
* The evolving netbook ecosystem. This slice of the computing market has surprised the CEA experts, zooming from about 300,000 units in 2007 to 10 million units in 2008. CEA officials predict the market will grow to more than 18 million units in 2009.
Last year at CES I saw two people using these small laptops. Already this year, I’ve seen at least a dozen of them, and I’ve only been here three hours!
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You can keep up to date by following the official CES Web site: www.cesweb.org
