Arlington, VA - Jan 6, 2007 - Factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics are projected to exceed $155 billion in 2007, which is a seven percent growth, according to the semi-annual industry forecast released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Revenues for 2006 totaled $145 billion. The results surpassed original CEA projections for the second year in a row. The CEA originally projected eight percent growth, but the final number was 13 percent growth for the year.

A large part of the growth is in TV set sales as flat panels replace CRTs. The CEA attributes the "successful ongoing transition to digital television" to driving the demand.

Other consumer electronic items with anticipated large sales in 2007 include gaming systems and MP3 players. The CEA projects that MP3 players will account for 90 percent of the $6 billion in revenues for the portable entertainment market. In 2006, 34 million MP3 players were shipped and an additional 41 million are expected to ship in 2007.

Other strong sellers will be GPS devices, PCs, accessories and digital imaging devices. In 2006, shipment volumes of laptop PCs eclipsed their desktop counterparts.