Sagging economy could boost tech vendors

The digital TV market could benefit from soaring fuel prices

Soaring fuel prices and tighter budgets could be a good thing for the technology business, say analysts.

A report by research firm iSuppli suggests that as the economy slows down, consumer electronics could see a gain in popularity and boosted sales.

The analyst suggested that, as travel costs begin to slip out of the realm of many, people will opt instead to stay home and turn on the TV or fire up the gaming console.

"This is music to the ears of consumer-electronics vendors, which are eyeing a goldmine of opportunity to push their products to families and those looking to stay at home," remarked Sheri Greenspan, iSuppli's senior analyst for consumer electronics.

The company also notes that the switch to DTV is playing a role as well. With both the US and UK in the midst of switching to digital broadcasts, the market for new television sets and receiver boxes is picking up.

iSuppli predicts that the DTV market, which includes plasma, LCD, rear projection and digital CRT sets, will expand at a rate of 16.5 per cent over the next four years, topping off at more than 252 million units sold by 2012.

The consumer electronics surge could also pad the coffers of the semiconductor industry. iSuppli predicts that the DTV market will bring some $14.4bn of revenue to chipmakers.

Vendors could also see greater profits from the gaming industry. Analysts predict that console sales will climb as high as 61.5 million units over the next four years as the current and next-gen console system wars between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo play out.