Survey Says: American Households Spend $1,200 A Year On Gadgets

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has just released the results of a study they conducted in February, and the word from them is that the average American household spends about $1,200 per year on gadgets. It appears that televisions are the biggest piece of the pie, as 92% of American homes have them, and 25% of those homes own HDTV sets. Mobile phones are also way up there, not surprisingly, owned by 76% of all American households. Focusing on more recent times, it seems that network hardware components are the hottest sellers right now, as American households are integrating more personal computers into the mix, requiring routers and wireless access points. Along with DVRs, network equipment purchases rose by 8%.

“Many of the top owned products have enjoyed mass-market saturation for years and will likely see growth based on upgrade and replacement sales,” said CEA senior research analyst Elena Caudle. “Some of the more intriguing categories are those that still occupy niche markets, such as mobile CE devices like GPS systems and satellite radio, which have seen healthy growth in the past few years.”

Even more interesting though, is that it was determined that the average teen spends about half of their total income on consumer electronics and gadgets. Households with teenagers exceed the national purchasing average of $1,200 by up to $500.

Of course, to readers of this site, this is nothing new. In fact, we bet that many of you, like us, can spend upwards of $5,000 a year on gadgets or more. Are we right? Let us know in the comments, or hit up the forums. How much do you spend on gadgets on an annual basis?