Electronics Sales Growth Seen Slowing

The U.S. consumer electronics industry is projected to post a healthy 6.1% increase in factory sales in 2008, even as other industry segments suffer.

The Consumer Electronics Association said Monday that shipment revenue is forecast to top $171 billion in 2008. Last year, consumer electronics sales totaled $161 billion, up 8.2% from 2006.

Despite a slowdown in growth, the projection for 2008 shows the industry is "strong and healthy," said Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the CEA.

That growth rate is close to the long-term historical average for the industry. Shapiro released the forecast on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, which CEA produces. (See related story, this page.)

"This growth rate is absolutely terrific compared to the forecasts of any other industry," Shapiro said in a speech. "Even with a very uncertain economy, consumers continue to demand our products."

The average American home has 25 consumer electronics products, up from less than 10 in 1990, the trade group says.

High-definition LCD televisions, high-def camcorders, high-def DVD players, portable navigation systems and digital cameras with 8 megapixels or more resolution are among the fastest-growing products, CEA analysts say.

Shawn DuBravac, a CEA economist, said the consumer electronics industry has been a "shining star" in the domestic economy. Still, he sees the U.S. economy being weaker in the first half of the year before recovering in the second half.

Spending has shifted away from home furnishings, appliances and other categories and into consumer electronics, he says.

Yahoo Wants To Shout Again

Yahoo YHOO hopes to regain its mojo by helping consumers manage their online lives better by mixing its services with those of major third-party services.

"It's time to get Yahoo yodeling again," Yahoo co-founder and Chief Executive Jerry Yang said Monday in a keynote speech at CES.

Yahoo is seeking to become the "indispensable starting point" for Internet users, Yang said. The Web portal was started 13 years ago to organize the Internet and make it easier for people to navigate and use.

Yahoo understands that people want more than just its services, so it is going to provide ways for users to keep track of their online activities in one place.

Internet users today are juggling multiple social networks and reading more Web logs and online information sources, Yang says.

Yang provided the first public demonstration of Yahoo's latest mobile offering and offered a concept demonstration of the future desktop experience.

Yahoo's latest mobile offering, Yahoo Go 3.0, gives people access to third-party services such as eBay EBAY, News Corp.'s NWS MySpace and Viacom's VIA MTV, along with popular Yahoo services like My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Finance.

The new mobile interface is designed to let cell phone users scroll through online services easily and get quick previews of information. The software and service are customizable so users can add their own services and news feeds, Yang says.

Panasonic: Bigger Is Better

Panasonic, a unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial MC, showed off a mammoth 150-inch high-definition plasma television Monday at CES.

The display, the world's largest flat-panel TV, showed Panasonic's technical prowess but isn't a commercial product yet. Last year, Panasonic unveiled a 103-inch plasma set, which it produced in limited quantities.

Panasonic is continuing to invest in new plasma television factories, despite the surging popularity of LCD televisions.

Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks Company, announced a series of plasma technology improvements.

During a speech at CES on Monday, he showed off a 42-inch panel with "double efficiency" technology that halves energy consumption while maintaining the same brightness.

He also rolled out a 50-inch plasma TV that was less than 1 inch thin and half the weight of the current model.