August sales at electronics and appliance stores declined 2.9 percent year over year and were unchanged sequentially from July, reported the National Retail Federation Friday. Retail sales across the board increased 4.1 percent in August from a year earlier and were up 0.4 percent from July, said NRF. Online and other non-store sales were up 14.3 percent year over year and up 1.6 percent month over month, it said. Consumer spending stayed “resilient” in August though sales grew “somewhat slower” than in July, “which could reflect consumers’ concerns about the unpredictability of trade policy,” it said. It’s “too early to assess the impact” of the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs that took effect Sept. 1, “but they do present downside risks to household spending,” said NRF.

Software development, data analytics, engineering and artificial intelligence remain the most “in-demand” tech-job fields of expertise, CTA said Thursday. The association canvassed 252 member-company executives in April and May, find 73 percent deem employee referrals as “the most popular strategy to recruit new talent." Health insurance (91 percent), incentive compensation or bonuses (89 percent), paid time off (88 percent) and flexible work arrangements (85 percent) remain “the most important non-salary benefits to retain employees,” said CTA. Nearly six in 10 don’t expect technological advances “will displace any of their workers in the next five years.” Though 29 percent expect job displacement, 68 percent plan to keep workers by offering “reskilling” programs, a 16-point increase from 2018.

Global shipments of personal computing devices, including “traditional” PCs and tablets, are expected to decline at a 2.4 percent compound annual growth rate through 2023, said IDC Wednesday. Bucking the trend will be 2-in-1 devices and ultra-slim laptops, collectively expected to rise at a 5 percent CAGR the next five years. Overall device shipments next year are expected to drop below 400 million units for the first time since 2010, when the original iPad launched. IDC’s forecasting a “splintering” of the 2-in-1 category as Apple and Microsoft “continue to push forward the detachable form factor while other PC vendors continue to promote convertible PCs,” it said. The researcher expects iOS detachables “will capture almost one quarter of the 2-in-1 market throughout the forecast.”

Half of all U.S. households will be passed by all-fiber networks by 2025, for 65.1 million households, up from 39.2 million this year, said the Fiber Broadband Association Tuesday. The FBA study by consulting firm Cartesian estimated it will cost $52 billion to reach 80 percent of households, and $18 billion more to reach 90 percent, by 2029.

Products like TVs and headphones that consumers deem “nice to have” but not essential, likely will face the biggest sales fallout from tariff-induced price increases, said NPD Monday. Consumer buying decisions “will be impacted less by household income or cost and more by whether a product is considered a 'necessity,'” it said. NPD canvassed 2,500 consumers on their post-tariff buying intentions and analyzed point-of-sale data from the past three years, using “time series forecasting models to understand the impact of tariffs on retail sales,” it said. It constructed an index depicting “the relative impact on potential sales as a composite function of how consumers expect to delay purchases or buy less expensive items,” it said. A value of 100 is the average impact across all researched categories, it said. An index of 120 means that a category has a 20 percent “greater potential for sales decline than the average category,” it said. Household necessities generally scored below 100, while consumer tech items scored consistently above it, said NPD. The average selling prices of items in a category “does not predict the consumer-reported potential for sales impact from price increases,” it said. “High- and low-priced items appear in all category groups, regardless of the expected magnitude of the tariff impact. However, higher prices do correlate somewhat with increased odds of delaying a purchase.” Consumer perceptions, not actual pricing, “will determine the effect of tariffs on overall spending and the economy,” said NPD. “Consumers will balance price and value according to their preferences and needs, trading down or delaying in essential purchases.”

The “hallmark signs” of maturity in the consumer tech industry means brands “must be more strategic” to achieve and sustain “growth,” blogged Ben Arnold, NPD executive director-industry analyst, consumer electronics. One way is to “target new groups of shoppers,” he said. “In contrast to heavy technology spenders who are likely to be saturated with tech products, light spenders generally own less tech,” but they “still buy and own the high-priced technology products we all do,” he said. “Reaching these consumers at the times they are buying high ticket technology products requires that marketers be more strategic in when and where they are reached.” The consumer tech market “has placed an intense focus on market share wins, but gaining a greater share of buyers is equally important in driving new sales,” he said.

Extended battery life is a top purchase driver for 61 percent of consumers surveyed in a Qualcomm audio report, said the company at IFA Friday. That’s up from 47 percent a year ago, reflecting the shift in preference toward wireless audio devices, said Qualcomm, whose Bluetooth technology is the de facto standard for wireless headphone connectivity. More than 30 percent said they use their wireless audio devices while gaming. Thirty-five percent own a smart speaker; 23 percent plan to buy one in the next 12 months and just over half saw a voice interface as a “feature of interest,” it said. Sixty-three percent said they care about active noise cancellation as a headphone feature; 67 percent said the ability to stream audio smoothly to other devices without lags is important. It's based on a survey of 6,000 smartphone users ages 16-64 in the U.S., Germany, India, Japan, the U.K. and China.

Global semiconductor sales increased 1.7 percent sequentially in July from June to $33.4 billion, but declined 15.5 percent from July 2018, said the Semiconductor Industry Association Tuesday. July sales increased 3.1 percent from June in Asia Pacific, and were up 2.5 percent in the Americas, 1.1 percent in China and 0.7 percent in Japan but down 0.5 percent in Europe, said SIA. Year-over-year sales declined “across all regional markets,” with China and the Americas having the largest decreases, it said.

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 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.

Consumer intentions to buy new TV sets jumped sharply in August from July, according to preliminary Conference Board data released Tuesday. Nielsen canvassed 5,000 U.S. homes through Aug. 16 and found 13.8 percent plan to buy a new TV set in the next six months, said the board. That was up from 12.4 percent in July and 12.5 percent in June but down from 14.5 percent in August 2018, it said. Consumer confidence declined “marginally” in August, as “expectations cooled” somewhat, but “overall remain strong,” it said. “While other parts of the economy may show some weakening, consumers have remained confident and willing to spend. However, if the recent escalation in trade and tariff tensions persists, it could potentially dampen consumers’ optimism regarding the short-term economic outlook.”