Digital Picture Frame Could Make Comeback Amid Niche CE Segment Advance, Says NPD
The biggest opportunity for categories in the “mature” CE industry is in “underserved niches,” blogged NPD analyst Stephen Baker Wednesday. Despite a market where “consumers are not replacing or repurchasing tech items at the same rate they did in prior…
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years,” NPD is forecasting 3 percent growth through 2021, with growth leaders including smart locks and video doorbells, true wireless headphones, gaming PCs, Chromebooks and 75-inch and larger TVs. NPD doesn’t project for tariffs, Baker emailed: “Our forecasts are based on our [point-of-sale] data so any impacts to prior volumes would be automatically included in our go forward forecasts.” Baker identified “surprise segments” that could emerge to fill consumer needs, including charging cables, tablets and accessories and “even a return of the digital picture frame.” Core growth areas -- wireless headphones, smart home products, smart speakers, smartwatches, and gaming accessories and hardware (including desktop and notebook PCs and monitors) -- are expected to triple in revenue from 2016 to 2021, while tech’s top three categories -- nongaming notebooks, TVs and tablets -- will grow about 5 percent, said the analyst. The revenue total for the top three sellers is $10 billion more than core growth areas, making success of the trio “especially critical to the industry.” New and emerging technologies with limited availability today will begin to have an impact by the end of 2021: next-generation foldable screens, 5G and augmented reality. Post-2021, technology will undergo a “radical change,” Baker said, when foldable or transparent screens “will be everywhere,” intelligent assistants will drive tech purchases, intelligent products that can “do things for me” will generate interest, “everything will be connected” inside the home, and connectivity to devices, the cloud and “the edge” will be key.