CES 2014: Global Spending On Tech Expected To Fall 1% In 2014 Due To Decline In Selling Prices

Worldwide spending on technology is projected to slip 1 percent in 2014 due to a number of factors, the Consumer Electronics Association announced on Sunday at the International Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, in Las Vegas.

According to Steve Koenig, the association’s director of industry analysis, the 1 percent decline in spending will reduce the amount that consumers are expected to spend on gadgets this year to $1.06 trillion. In 2013, consumers spent $1.07 trillion on gadgets, a 3 percent growth over the previous year. And, one of the main drivers of this revenue loss is the decline in the average selling price of devices, even as consumers around the world -- especially in emerging markets like China -- are opting for lower-priced gadgets.

“We’ve really taken the cream off the top,” Los Angeles Times quoted Koenig as saying. “Now we’re really trying to penetrate these developing markets.”

According to Koenig, the average price of smartphones is projected to fall to an estimated $297 this year from $444 in 2010 -- a 50 percent fall -- while smartphones sales are likely to rise to 1.21 billion units, up from 1.01 billion last year.

The decline in spending does not reflect waning consumer appetite for gadgets, and smartphones and tablets are expected to account for approximately 43 cents of every dollar spent on technology in 2014, Associated Press reported.

Growth in emerging markets is expected to slow to 2 percent in 2014 from the 9 percent growth rate witnessed last year. But, this number compares favorably to the 4 percent decline expected in spending on gadgets in developed markets this year, according to a report from Barron’s.

Meanwhile, consumers are expected to spend the most on smartphones and tablets, which will account for 43 percent of total consumer spending in 2014.

While spending on other devices such as point-and-shoot cameras, video cameras and portable GPS devices is expected to fall, wearable devices are likely to lighten consumers' wallets. Smart watch sales are expected to reach 1.5 million units globally this year, up from 1 million in 2013, Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist, told AP.

The 2014 International CES is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from Jan. 7-10.