CEA honcho discusses economic crisis

CES 2009: Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, spoke this morning about how the global economic slowdown will affect the consumer electronics industry through 2009.

Shapiro slammed the industries that have taken unnecessary risks over the last few years and blamed them for the situation the world finds itself in.

Despite this, he remained confident that the consumer electronics industry would remain strong through the recession as it has enjoyed seven years of uninterrupted growth.

Indeed, the last time the consumer electronics industry slowed was in the wake of 9/11 and then the industry only declined by three percent.

Through 2008, the industry enjoyed a 5.4 percent growth in revenue, which didn't quite hit the target of six percent that Shapiro set out last year.

Shapiro remained upbeat about 2009, but said that he expected 2009's revenue to be flat compared to 2008 - the current expectation is for a drop by 0.6 percent. He did, however, believe that unit shipments would increase as prices are forever decreasing.

With this in mind, Shapiro believes that the consumer electronics industry will lead the way for global ecomomic recovery and expects revenue growth to return in 2010.

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