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CTA Ups Tech Forecast, Notes 5G Driving AI Adoption

U.S. consumer tech retail revenue is expected to reach $401 billion this year, said CTA Monday in an upgrade of its January forecast. CTA announced at CES it expected 2019 industry sales to top $398 million. The new forecast downgrades…

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TV industry sales, and smart-speaker adoption is expected to slow. “Growing popularity” of streaming services, plus artificial intelligence-enabled “emerging devices” and connected car technology will be 2019's leading growth drivers, said CTA. “Enthusiasm for AI-powered technologies is skyrocketing,” said President Gary Shapiro. The cloud of “unnecessary tariffs ... threatens to slow down our nation's economic momentum," said Shapiro. CTA expects 2019 sales of Wi-Fi cameras, smart thermostats, smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, smart locks and doorbells and smart switches, dimmers and outlets to reach 28.6 million units, up 19 percent, and $4.5 billion, up 16 percent.