A sobering number for consumer electronics companies is 7.8, which is how many percentage points revenue dropped in 2009 from the previous year: from $179 billion to $165 billion. However, tech analysts are hopeful for some key products to emerge and bring sales back up.

Among the hopefuls are Google’s Nexus One phone, Apple’s Tablet, the expanding e-reader market (which should see the Kindle receive greater competition), wireless connectivity and computing in automobiles, and 3-D displays, which James Cameron is propagating. Unfortunately, OLED is unlikely to make much of an impact, but Blu-Ray should be prominent with the lowering of player and HDTV prices. Apple’s Tablet and inevitable clones could create a new device that combines e-readers, smartphones, and netbooks. CES is a bit smaller this year, but 2010 should be exciting.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle.