Device owners embracing entertainment and expedience

According to leading market research company The NPD Group’s “2010 Consumer Technology Household Online Penetration Study“, the landscape of consumer technology in the U.S. has shifted towards products that offer richer entertainment experiences and simplicity. Flat-panel TVs in the home grew slightly to 64 percent, up from 61 percent in 2009, while the percentage of households with two or more flat-panel televisions remained flat. The broadening penetration of HDTV coupled with lower player prices, however, proved to be a boon for standalone Blu-ray players, which nearly doubled since last year, going from just 6 percent in 2009 to 11 percent in 2010. One key factor behind this was deep discounting throughout the 2009 holiday season.

Replacements drive the PC market with overall notebook penetration remaining flat, but netbook penetration almost doubled, moving from 4 percent in 2009 to 8 percent in 2010. The release of new operating systems from Microsoft and Apple were main drivers for the PC market.

“Consumers are flocking to products that offer slim profiles and access to digital content,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD. “Devices such as Blu-ray players, netbooks, and e-readers are being used to enable rich, connected experiences.” E-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are increasing in penetration and are now in 5 percent of U.S. households.

Driven by declining prices and better quality, flash camcorders, while still at only 10 percent penetration, doubled from last year’s 5 percent and still have plenty more room to grow in the coming years. Households with children had a 13 percent penetration rate versus 9 percent of those without children indicating certain segments of the market could help build that penetration faster than others.

Forty percent of U.S. households now own portable navigation devices, up from 30 percent in 2009. PNDs have become attractive options for consumers with low average prices and have held their own against competition from cell phones because of their simplicity and ability to be used without a data plan.

Compact camera household penetration seems to have reached a plateau at 73 percent, but the instance of two or more digital cameras in the home is on the rise, pointing to a move from household penetration to individual penetration. Households with two or more cameras rose from 22 percent in 2009 to 25 percent in 2010. DSLRs didn’t see an overall increase from 11 percent in household penetration, however, more affluent households penetration went from 18 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2010.