CES 2012: Global tech device spending may hit $1 trillion

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Fueled by growth in emerging markets, global tech device spending is estimated to hit $1 trillion for the first time in 2012.

‘It underscores just the magnitude of this marketplace,’ said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis at the Consumer Electronics Assn. ‘When you’re talking about a market of 3 1/2 billion people that all want TVs, that all want phones, that’s a huge market opportunity.... I don’t know when we’re going to hit $2 trillion, but with the pace of growth in these emerging economies, it probably won’t take long.’

As people around the world buy more tech gadgets, the industry is entering the second phase of the digital revolution. Consumers should expect the newest devices to become even more seamless in their lives; tech companies will be keenly focused on rolling out new smartphones and tablets that are multifunctional and can replace old-school products (sorry, camcorders).

Those findings were shared in two back-to-back news conferences Sunday during the media preview day at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the first on the state of the industry and trends to look out for at CES, and the second on global market figures.

Tech experts told an overflow crowd of reporters -- nearly all of them clicking away on laptops and tablets and snapping photos on their smartphones -- that they expected slower growth in tech spending in developed countries like the U.S. but an explosion of spending in countries such as China and Brazil. One ‘sweet spot’ in emerging markets will be low-cost smartphones; LCD televisions are also expected to do well.

Among the big trends expected to be seen at CES include devices that are geared more toward personalization and customization, said Shawn Dubravac, the Consumer Electronics Assn.’s chief economist and director of research.

He said he expected to see 20,000 new products launched during this year’s show, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows. Many of the products will be smartphones, and phone makers will be aiming to make the ‘pocketable devices more and more like full-fledged computers,’ Dubravac said.

Also expected at CES: 30 to 50 new ultrabooks, or super-thin and light laptops, as PC makers try to take share away from Apple’s popular MacBook Air.

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-- Andrea Chang in Las Vegas