Consumer electronics

From ArticleWorld

Consumer electronics refers to electronic devices used by people in their daily life. This includes forms of entertainment (such as VCRs, camcorders, home cinemas, digital cameras, televisions and DVD players), communication (such as telephones and internet applications) and productivity (such as PDAs, calculators, laptops and personal computers).

Consumer electronics are manufactured throughout the world and more extensively in East Asian countries such as Japan and China.

Due to constant advancements in technology and the manufacturing of more powerful and efficient machinery, prices of consumer electronics have continually been falling. This is in accordance with Moore’s law, which states that functionality of semiconductor devices will double every 18 months for a given price level.

Although consumer electronics are used mostly for entertainment and casual purposes, their sophistication has increased greatly in recent years.

Inappropriate waste disposable of large amounts of consumer electronics in recent years, especially in developing countries like India and China, has led to increasing amounts of e-waste being generated. This has resulted in environmental problems due to toxic components present in such devices.