By Grant Shepherd

SYDNEY: It seems the consumer electronics market is going from strength to strength with a new report boasting exceptional figures over 2008, with a 13.2 per cent increase in revenue for the entire year and a 20.4 per cent increase in unit sales for the second half of 2008.

The ‘Canon Consumer Digital Lifestyle Index’ which was released today has revealed that despite the negative Australian economy, people were still spending in the second half of 2008, and the consumer electronics industry proved to be one of the clear winners.

 In terms of revenue, the digital lifestyle industry increased 13.2 per cent from $5.05 billion in 2007 to 5.72 billion in 2008.

In terms of the second half alone, the industry witnessed the biggest second half result in the history of the Canon CDLI report, seeing revenues reach in excess $3.2 billion.

“In light of the emerging financial crisis, it’s very encouraging to see the Australian technology industry continuing to record such strong growth, outperforming the retail sector as a whole," said Darren Ryan, general manager - marketing, consumer imaging products group, Canon Australia. “Digital technology is now a centrepiece of the Australian lifestyle and we’re seeing this in both the sales figures and in the way consumers actively engage with the technology in their leisure pursuits.”

The report also highlighted that sales were also very encouraging over the second half of the year, with 13.95 million units sold in 2nd half 2008 compared to 2nd half 2007 figures of 11.58 million, this represents a 20.4 per cent increase.

In terms of sales dollars, products under the Canon CDLI categories increased $404 million over the period which is an increase of 14 per cent.

Products which are performing particularly well are digital cameras with 2.6 million units sold and digital media players with 3 million units. Games consoles, DVD players/recorders  and flat screen TVs also did well with 2 million units sold.