The CE market is set to boom untill 2011 at least, according to research group Park Associates. They also claim that sales of networked CE devices will grow from 9.8 million units in 2007 to 71 million in 2011.
The manner by which consumers create and share content, enjoy a variety of programming and entertainment applications, communicate, and enhance productivity at home and on-the-go is evolving as digital technologies become more mainstream, they claim.
“As 2008 kicks off, there is very solid activity and very real potential among multiple players in services delivery, software development, and platform design to address the growing consumer appetite for lifestyle enhancement solutions and productivity applications – from broadband to portable music and emerging television services,” said Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates’ Vice President and Principal Analyst.
Parks Associates predicts home networking will make its most-significant strides into the consumer electronics space in 2008 and connectivity in new products and services-driven applications will be the most sought-after gadget features next year. In addition, revenues for online video are expected to climb to $9.7 billion by 2011 (up from $1.4 billion in 2007) and nearly 92 million households will subscribe to a digital video service in 2011, up from 70 million in 2007.
“Home networking media and connectivity software have matured, so device connectivity has moved from ‘nice-to-have’ to a true differentiator and value-added feature,” said Scherf, “Distributed media and communications features will be enticing to newer market entrants, including the consumer electronics industry and bundled services providers.”
