Increasing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and enthusiasm for emerging technology will drive the US consumer technology industry this year, latest Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) semi-annual forecast showed.
The industry is expected to generate $286.6 billion in retail revenues and $224 billion in wholesale.
According to the forecast, sales of burgeoning tech products such as wearables, smart home devices and drones will deliver an increase of 1.3 percent over last year’s industry revenues.
Collective revenue from smartphones, tablet, LCD televisions, laptops and desktop computers, is estimated at $114 billion – or 51 percent – to the tech industry’s revenue.
Smartphones
CTA projects smartphone revenues will reach $55 billion this year and 2017 will be the first year smartphones see a slight decline in unit sales and revenue.
Televisions
The TV market revenues expected to reach $20 billion, driven by LCD TVs.
Tablets
After momentous growth and widespread adoption over the past five years, tablet sales will decline again in 2016. CTA expects revenues of $19 billion, down five percent.
Laptops
Revenues are expected to reach $15.8 billion, an eight percent drop.
Desktops
Amid an accelerated decline, desktops are projected earn $4.6 billion in revenue, down 15 percent.
4K UHD displays
Among the emerging technologies, CTA expects shipments of 4K UHD displays will reach 15 million units and revenue will exceed $12.9 billion, representing increases of 105 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
New to the market in 2016, 4K UHD Blu-ray players will further build the 4K UHD ecosystem with 700,000 units sold and $63 million in revenue.
Wearables
Driven by the popularity of fitness activity trackers, unit sales of all wearables in 2016 are forecast to reach almost 48 million units, a 39 percent increase. Revenue is expected to be at $2.2 billion, a 62 percent increase.
Smart Home
CTA projects the smart home category – including smart thermostats, smart smoke and CO2 detectors, IP/Wi-Fi cameras, smart locks, smart home systems, and smart switches, dimmers and outlets – to reach 9.5 million units and $1.3 billion in revenue.
Drones
Drone sales are expected to reach record heights, topping 2.4 million units and $799 million in shipment revenues.
Virtual Reality
CTA expects virtual reality to be the tech sector’s overwhelming leader in year-to-year growth. Total revenues are projected to reach $432 million, a 332 percent increase this year.
Digital Assistant Devices: This is the first year the semi-annual CTA report has included projections for voice-activated device that provides a cloud-based artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant, such as Amazon’s Echo. Revenue is seen at $392 million. percent).
3D Printing
Total revenues will reach $148 million, a 35 percent increase.
