Consumer electronics include electronic equipment intended for everyday use. Consumer electronics are most often used in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Some products classed as consumer electronics include personal computers, telephones, MP3 players, audio equipment, televisions, calculators, GPS automotive navigation systems, digital cameras and playback and recording of video media such as DVDs, VHSs or camcorders. Currently, the global consumer electronics industry is mainly dominated by Japanese and South Korean companies.

The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) estimates 2007 Consumer Electronics sales at 150 billion dollars.

Consumer electronics are manufactured throughout the world, although there is a particularly high concentration of research and development activity in Japan and South Korea. The latest consumer electronics are previewed yearly at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, at which many industry pioneers speak.

Trends

Ever-falling prices

One overriding characteristic of all consumer electronic products is the trend of ever-falling prices. This is driven by gains in manufacturing efficiency and automation, lower labor costs as manufacturing has moved to lower-wage countries, and improvements in semiconductor design. Semiconductor components benefit from Moore's Law, an observed principle which states that, for a given price, semiconductor functionality doubles every two years.

Product convergence

While consumer electronics continues in its trend of convergence, combining elements of many consumer electronic items, the consumer faces different decisions when purchasing their items. There is an ever increasing need to keep the product information updated and most comparable, for the consumer to be able to make an informed buying decision. The variables are becoming more about 'style and price' rather than 'specification and performance'. This convergence of technologies promises a shrinking of choice of retailer to the consumer and the rise of manufacturer status within the home. There is a gradual shift towards e-commerce web-storefronts.

Connectivity

A recent trend in many types of consumer electronics is connectivity. It's usual for many products to include Internet connectivity using technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Ethernet. Many products not traditionally associated with computer use (such as TVs or Hi-Fi equipment) now provide options to connect to the Internet or to a computer using a home network to provide access to digital content.

The desire to connect CE products capable of displaying High definition (HD) content has lead the industry to develop a number of technologies, such as WirelessHD or ITU-T G.hn, which are optimized for distribution of HD content between CE devices in a home.

Environmental impact

Many consumer electronics have planned obsolescence resulting in the generation of e-waste. It is estimated that during 2003 the US alone generated over 2.8 million tons of electronic waste. Less than 10% of that amount was recovered (reused or recycled).
Standby power used by consumer electronics and appliance while they are turned off accounts for 5 to 10% of household energy consumption, adding an estimated $3 billion to annual energy costs in the USA. "In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off."

See also

• Product teardown

• Yellow goods