ARLINGTON, Va.-Factory sales of consumer electronics will reach a new high of $135.4 billion this year in the United States, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, with wireless handset sales accounting for $16 billion of that number. Last year, CEA said U.S. consumers purchased some 104 million wireless handsets for a total of $13.5 billion.
“The numbers say it all-the consumer electronics industry is hot,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA’s president and chief executive officer. “Sales exceeded our expectations in 2005, totaling $125.9 billion, and we’re forecasting 8-percent growth in 2006. Consumer electronics sales are consistently growing, breaking records every year, because our industry is constantly changing to provide products that consumers love and can’t live without.”
The numbers come on the eve of the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show, running through Sunday in Las Vegas.
