Tech firms unveil new gadgets, sees painful '09

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Top technology companies came to Las Vegas to show off their latest innovations in consumer electronics, but despite the plethora of TVs, computers, phones, cameras and other gadgets on display, it was clear the industry is bracing for a very tough year.

While there were a few bright spots at this year's subdued Consumer Electronics -- such as low-cost mini-laptops known as netbooks -- what emerged was a picture of scaled-back investment plans, more job cuts and stagnant growth with no signs of improvement.

The global economic slump hit at a time when the growth momentum of flat-screen TVs and digital cameras, which drove the sector's expansion in recent years, had already started to lose steam amid high penetration rates in developed countries. That left tech firms with no star products to fall back on.

Asked when the electronics industry was likely to recover from the downturn, Shutoku Watanabe, executive vice president of Hitachi Ltd's consumer business group, said: "I wish you could tell me."

"We'd probably better mentally prepare ourselves for two more years of this," he told Reuters in an interview, in which he said Hitachi was likely to miss its annual LCD TV sales target by as much as 10 percent.

According to estimates from industry watchers IDC, Gartner and DisplaySearch, the global PC, microchip and flat-TV markets will all contract in 2009 in value terms as the protracted economic downturn dampens consumer and corporate spending.

"I don't think there is any one product that is going to help everybody pull out of the situation," said DisplaySearch analyst Chris Crotty, who attended the show ending on Sunday, where high-tech companies from Microsoft Corp to Palm Inc unveiled their latest products and strategies.

"Unfortunately, when you have an economic downturn coupled with slowing demand, it's a combination that weakens the industry," Crotty said.