Mid-Year Audio Revenues Set All Time High Sales Record

18-Sep-00

Factory audio sales for the first six months of the year have surpassed all previous mid-year dollar sales, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The $3.85 billion of sales to dealers put audio sales twelve percent ahead of last year at this time. Portable audio revenue has shown the most dramatic growth - up 25 percent in the year to $1.1 billion. Within this category, revenue from CD players boomed up 37 percent while revenue from CD boomboxes increased by 23 percent. The combined sales of these two categories is just shy of $700 million.Separate home components are up 16 percent in the year to $727 million, with a leaping 23 percent increase in June. Within this category, home CD equipment (particularly CD-R) has grown to 32 percent, while receivers (led by DolbyÆ Digital units) have performed well with a mid-year increase of 23 percent. Speakers also performed well in this category, with dollar sales increasing by 14 percent for the year-to-date.Home audio system revenues were up seven percent for the first six months at $869 million, while aftermarket autosound is up three percent to $1.1 billion. Revenues from in-dash CD players comprise about 45 percent of all aftermarket autosound sales, and are still showing growth at 11 percent for the year-to-date. ""Audio continues to be the 'comeback kid' of consumer electronics in 2000,"" said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. ""Surround sound is one of the killer applications driving consumer interest, setting the stage for the new generation of surround sound audio products like DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD. We look forward to what promises to be a strong holiday season for audio sales.""