Connected home products are the key to the consumer electronics market in 2011

According to IHS iSuppli, global consumer electronics (CE) product shipments will grow by 2.6% in 2010. The growth in sales of products that play a role in connected homes and focus on usability rather than technology magic is one of the factors driving the growth of shipments of consumer electronics products.

It is estimated that the shipment of consumer electronics products will reach 1.6 billion in 2011, compared to 1.56 billion in 2010. Consumer electronics includes a variety of familiar products that consumers use every day, such as televisions, stereo and audio components, portable media players, set-top boxes, game consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players, digital cameras, projectors and video cameras, digital Photo frames, e-book readers and consumer electronics.

Although the overall shipment growth of 2.6% in 2010 was relatively modest compared with the growth rate of 4% last year, given the current economic situation, this growth rate is still very impressive. Due to the uncertainty in the global economy and the high unemployment rate in the United States, sales growth in 2010 is a comfort to the consumer electronics industry and lays the foundation for future growth. The United States is the world’s largest consumer electronics market.

Unit shipment growth rate in 2012 will rise to 4.4%, as shown in the figure.

Shipment growth, but sales growth is not so strong. It is expected that the growth of consumer electronics sales in 2011 will not be as strong as that of shipments. In particular, prices of e-book readers and other products began to decline sharply in 2010, and it is expected that this trend will not stop in 2011. TV will also drag sales growth. Despite strong sales, deep discounts by retailers will erode TV prices, thereby reducing overall consumer electronics sales growth.

Other high-volume consumer electronics, such as portable media and MP3 players, will continue to face competition from smart phones and tablets. These competing products include the functionality of the original product and will also affect consumer electronics sales.

Making connected homes a reality Although the concept of connected homes was brought up early, technologies for communicating consumer electronics products with each other and with the outside world have not yet been widely adopted. The Connected Home concept is virtually synonymous with "Connected Consumers," in which consumers can access their entire media content anywhere, anytime, seamlessly, and transparently, regardless of location or authorized consumer device, regardless of their device. Is it a big screen TV, a bedroom docking station, a media tablet or a smartphone.

One factor that has hampered universal acceptance of the concept of interconnected households is usability: For a consumer technology to be widely accepted, consumers must be able to use it and be able to use products that use it, even if they do not understand their internal working mechanisms or processes.

This theory can explain the success of Apple's iPad. The iPad is a plug-and-play product that can be used out of the box. IHS iSuppli's research shows that customers who are not particularly versed in technology can purchase the product and can use it without looking at the manual. This is the key to success in the consumer field.

If the vendors are focused on providing a clear usability, rather than indulging in technical gimmicks, such vendors will stand out from the market. Their products will be sought after, especially retailers will accept and adopt this concept in their core business. Best Buy is expected to do so in 2011.

In addition to usability, another major factor in determining the success of consumer electronics products is their long-term future in connected home environments.

Although the market for products such as set-top boxes may eventually saturate, the devices themselves will continue to meet key functions such as content access and distribution, allowing these products to retain their place in consumer homes for some time to come.

Conversely, portable media players, as the main portable media player, seem to be in the digital living room, but they are rapidly being replaced by smartphones and tablets. These devices have the same music playback capabilities. Many more features.

The potential to maintain an existing status in connected homes can explain why some products, such as set-top boxes, will continue to be needed by consumer electronics users, while others will slowly withdraw from the stage.