A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association says the average US household spent $1,179 (around £732) on consumer electronics products in the past 12 months, a drop of $201 from the previous year. American households were calculated to contain 24 separate consumer electronics products, down from 25 in 2010.
The report also calculated that the average adult spent $652 on CE products. Women spent an average $520 on CE while men spent $793.
Brian Markwalter, CEA’s senior vice president of research and standards, said “Consumer ownership of most devices has increased despite consumers spending less on CE in the past year. Several factors have led to a decrease in spending, including changes in consumer purchase patterns, product consolidation, decreasing price points and the high unemployment rate. There are lot of new and innovative wireless technologies attracting consumer interest and excitement. The popularity of these devices and other emerging CE products will be a bright spot for the industry moving forward.”
Although video-related products were the most-owned CE device, the penetration of wireless CE products also gained momentum. Ownership of eBook readers doubled in the last year to 13%, while more than a third of households now own a smartphone and almost 10% of households own a tablet computer.