BAASnotes.com – Bay Area Audiophile Society

Home Audio Market Forecast Raised – Really!

As documented in an interesting article published by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, think CES), sales forecasts for home audio over the next decade have been raised. Wow.

Basically, folks have all bought their flat-screen TV’s and iPods and such, and now industry analysts think they’ll turn to audio. Nice.

Of course, what this means to the ‘high end’ market remains to be seen. But I doubt if it’s bad.

Quotables:

A few years ago, most everyone seemed excited about the the iPod. Everyone, that is, except the majority home audio manufacturers. Their reluctance was somewhat understandable. For a while, it seemed as though the increasingly old-fashioned concept of listening to music through a set of speakers on a system powered by an amplified receiver was going the way of the raptor.

and

A resurgence of LPs-fueled by nostalgia as well as a reaction to the often atrocious sound quality of audio files – kept the old-fashioned fire burning….

and the punchline:

CEA’s Industry Forecast anticipates home audio revenues of $915 million by the end of this year, a 4 percent year-over-year increase and a refreshing jump from the $863 million we forecasted in January.

Great news…

Bob