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From the Editor
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
I made the mistake of going to the local mall this past Saturday. Traffic was horrible, and parking wasn't easy. I had to take the "stalker" approach follow a man or woman with bags in hand to his or her car; wait until they pull out, then pull my car into that spot before anyone else. We've all been there. Once I got into the mall, it didn't seem too bad. There was enough room to speed through the masses and get in and out quickly. This made me wonder about consumer spending this season, and whether or not it would be a "record year."
Several forecasters are predicting a slowing economy for 2007. Henderson Ventures' September forecast summary, Tighter Consumer Markets, noted that consumer spending for electronic products will be under increasing pressures, and may begin to wane. Overall consumer electronics revenue growth will fall into middle single-digit gains in 2007, notes the report, which may take some getting used to after double-digit growth rates in 2004 and 2005. Henderson Ventures also reported in the November 2006 forecast, PC Growth Rates are Falling, that the year-to-year expansion rate for global unit PC deliveries came in at about 7.3% in the third quarter of this year. In the U.S. deliveries actually slimmed by 1.1% in that quarter. Lower PC numbers in the U.S. region are due to lower unit growth, price competition, and market saturation; however, manufacturing won't stand a drop too much. Considerable growth rates in developing economies offer some relief, but Henderson's summary notes that prices that are required to "pump up" unit deliveries will weaken overall industry revenue growth. Market saturation is also beginning in other consumer electronics sectors such as MP3 players and flat-panel TVs, but newly introduced game consoles are expected to pick up the revenue slack.
Looking at industry predictions, it seems that things will even themselves out in 2007 no significant gains or losses. One car pulls out of the parking spot, and there's going to be one right behind it to fill its spot.
Michelle M. Boisvert, managing editor, mboisvert@pennwell.com