Faster Gadget Entry

30th September 2005 Gadgets today are becoming mass-market in almost half the time they did a few decades ago, according to the MORE TH>N Home Contents Index. Huge fall in cost of electrical items and rise in disposable income mean consumers can get more technology for the same money. 22% of young people own an iPod and 68% own a digital camera. 1 Plummeting costs and rising wealth in the UK have led to electrical items becoming mass market in half the time they did 20 or 30 years ago, according to the MORE TH>N Home Contents Index. It took 15 years for 85% of UK households to have a colour television and 20 years for 89% of households to get a video recorder. 2 Today’s favourite gadgets are entering most homes much quicker: 80% of people now own a DVD, just ten years since they were first produced, and already 10% have iPods just four years after launch. The average Briton today owns gadgets worth £4,600 1 as they fill their homes with the latest plasma screens, DVD players, MP3 players and digital cameras. Disposable income increased by more than 78.3% between 1987 and 2004 while the price of Audio-Visual Equipment fell by 76.1% in the same period. This has made like-for like audio-visual equipment more affordable, while technological advances mean consumers are often able to upgrade when they make new purchases.