Electronic Products & Technology

Consumer confidence toward tech spending climbs

Stephen Law   

Electronics Engineering Supply Chain consumer tech tech trends

Consumer confidence toward technology spending increased in February – showing significant growth since this time last year – while sentiment toward the overall U.S. economy decreased slightly, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Indexes.

Technology Spending

The CTA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, increased 3.9 points in February to 92.7. That total is up 7.8 points year-over-year from February 2016.

“Sentiment toward technology spending again moved higher in February,” said Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., chief economist, CTA. “This year, we’re seeing even higher consumer enthusiasm for emerging technology categories such as voice-activated digital assistant devices, as CTA’s semi-annual industry report shows.”

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Digital assistant devices – including Amazon’s Echo and Google Home – are expected to reach 4.5 million units (52 percent increase) and reach $608 million in revenue (36 percent increase) in 2017 – rising quickly in popularity after millions were unwrapped during the holidays, and as announcements of product integrations and new “skills” are announced.

Overall Economy

The CTA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), measuring consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy as a whole, decreased in February by 2.6 points to 185.

“Sentiment remains decidedly higher than a year ago,” said DuBravac. “However, consumer confidence toward the overall economy was pulled lower this month because of heightened concerns about the short term future of the economy, as well as a small uptick in the job loss concerns for the year ahead.”

 

 

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