The ability to connect every device as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) has forever changed the way we think about how we interact with our consumer electronics (CE), automobiles, homes, workplace, infrastructure and more. This connectivity allows manufacturers and consumers to interact fully with these devices to improve their efficiency and productivity while providing valuable data that can be used for actionable insights. The implementation of this technology in CE as well as other features has led the Consumer Electronics Association (News - Alert) (CEA) to forecast their revenues for 2014 to reach all-time highs in its Semi-Annual Sales and Forecast Report.

According to the report, this steep rise in sales is being driven by connected devices achieving a record high of $211.3 billion, a growth of two percent for the year from the 2013 sales of $207 billion. The forecast is based on U.S. factory sales-to-dealers and covers more than 100 CE products by charting the size and growth of many different categories. The CEA anticipates the growth to continue by 1.2 percent in 2015, reaching another all-time high of $214 billion.

Emerging products such as connected devices are expected to grow by 242 percent year-over-year in 2014 which will continue well into 2015 by another 108 percent. The report added a newly introduced sales category to include developing technologies such as3D printers, health and fitness devices, smart watches, Ultra HD television displays and smart thermostats.

Although currently these emerging products only represent three percent of the total revenues of the entire consumer electronics industry, in 2014 they will contribute close to $5 billion; a considerable growth from two years ago when revenues from this sector was too small to track

Additional data points from the 2014 report include:

• Total TV sets and displays projected to reach $18.4 billion with continued market growth of Ultra HD TV accounting for $1.9 billion in revenues
• Mobile connected devices will be driven by smartphones which are expected to generate $46 billion, with tablets earning $25.6 billion
• Audio technology such as headphones will generate $1.4 billion in revenue and Bluetooth wireless speakers will account for another $650 million
• Automotive electronics will increase by 20 percent with revenues of $11 billion
• Gaming consoles will see a 35 percent increase in unit shipments driving revenues to $4.8 billion

"Industry revenue is reaching all-time highs, fueled in large part by a few specific categories, while much of the industry is still experiencing relatively flat growth due in large part to the continued decline of average selling prices," said Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and senior director of research, CEA.

The U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts report is published twice a year, in January and July, reporting on U.S. factory sales to dealers with a comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the CE industry.