Apple Drives Growth In Two Major Consumer Electronics Categories

NPD today released a report examining U.S. consumer technology sales for 2012. Among other things, the company said consumer technology sales have dropped by $4 billion since 2010, down to $143 billion.

Additionally, three of the top five categories based on 2012 revenue experienced declines from 2011 to 2012 -- the two categories that grew were smartphones and tablets, both of which are product lines that Apple currently dominates.

“While CE remains a dynamic industry the fact is that the stellar growth of the past few years has made growth today more difficult,” [said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.]. “Most market segments have high penetration rates and the demand for additional devices is slowing, or declining. Tablets and smartphones have been able to stimulate demand for additional devices, but unfortunately it hasn’t been enough, yet, to sustain positive growth trends.”

NPD went on to note that Apple accounted for 19.9% of U.S. sales, (based on revenue) an increase in share of 2.6% from last year. Samsung captured 9.3% of dollars spent, up from 7% in 2011.

The fall in TV revenue could be noteworthy given the recent rumors around an Apple television set. The company could be hesitant to launch a product in a shrinking category, though perhaps Apple might be able to drive double-digit growth like it has for smartphones and tablets.