Covering the first 6 months of 2009, the Canon Consumer Digital Lifestyle Index (CDLI) was released overnight, and the findings show Australians have spent their merry way in the consumer tech marketplace. We haven’t so much fiddled while the world burned financially, we’ve been watching it in high definition, to the tune of $2.6 billion.
The CDLI tracks the following product areas: digital still cameras, digital camcorders, inkjet printers, photo printers, multi-function devices, plasma TVs, LCD TVs, DVD players and recorders, digital media players and games consoles, and the figures emanate from GfK Retail and Technology Australia’s retail tracking databases. Key omissions from the report are mobile phones and personal video recorders. I imagine that mobile phones would add to the figures considerably.
General retail figures showed a 1.1% growth in retail sales overall. The tech sector tracked by the report showed a 7.2% growth over the same period of time. The total number of individual products sold – 5.91 million units. That represents a growth of 8.4% over last year. How much of an influence, and how much do you think the retailers are loving, the K-Rudd generosity with the nation’s purse over the last 12 months!
Key findings of the survey include:
- The average price of plasma TVs fell 8% (average price $1,779), and LCD TV 11% (average rice 1,270)
- Digital camcorders dropped 5% in unit sales – are the smartphones and their in-built video capabilities biting into the sales?
- We love digital cameras – alone they represent 12% of the CDLI spend
- Sales of games consoles grew 29% – I wonder how much of this was Blu-ray driven with the PlayStation 3? i also wonder if this figure includes all the PS3 and Wii consoles that were given away with TVs this year?
- In volume terms, LCD TVs now account for over 75% of total flat panel TV sales.
