Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article entitled ” The Top 10 Trends in 10 Industries “, wherein they discuss “10 important industries and tell you the most important buzz in each”. Some of the categories seem somewhat pedantic e.g. “Accounting”, “Agriculture” and “Furniture”, however, in the area of “Consumer Electronics”, they say that some of the major trends include the following:-

1. The Well-Connected Home. In the opinion of the Wall Street Journal, the most significant trend in the “Consumer Electronics” industry in the past six months has been the improved ability of Personal Computers to connect to stereos and TVs, and so bring music, video and Internet access to each room in the house. This is thanks to Wi-Fi, and networking over existing power-lines. Some specific products that they mention are MS Media Center Edition 2005, and Sony’s LocationFree TV.
   
2. A Cell Phone Thats a TV, etc. Here, the WSJ states that the 2^nd trend of note is the integration of cameras, music players, e-mail, video and (soon-to-be) TV, into the converged platform of the cell phone.
3. Keeping Tabs. The 3^rd most important trend is the improved ability to track people and things. They mention GPS-enabled cell phones that allow you to find your kids, and black-box equipped vehicles that track driver performance.

–In other items, they briefly discuss the booming sales of Digital TVs, increased demand for microdrives and SD cards, and the pending arrival of digital radio. CES estimates that US sales of TVs, radios and stereo products will exceed $125B in 2005.

And, interspersed amongst “Higher Education” and “Credit Cards” (…I didn’t even realize that these were considered to be ‘Industries’…), we find “Videogames”. The WSJ says that some of the trends that are reshaping the gaming industry include the following:-

1. Games In Hand. The Wall Street Journal believes that the most important trend in “Videogames” has been the movement to, and the increased importance of, the portable gaming console. They cite the arrival of Sony’s PlayStation Portable as well as, the Nintendo DS.
   
2. Phoning It In. The 2^nd most important trend is the growing importance of games for cellphones. The number of people who play games on cellphones jumped 80% last year. They mention mobile-game publishers: Sorrent, Mforma and THQ Inc.

–The WSJ also makes note of the demise of PC-based games vis-a-vis game consoles . Game sales in general are expected to grow at a 20% compounded growth rate for the next 4 years. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, global videogame sales will reach $37B in 2006..

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