Demand for Digital Skyrockets, Says U.S. Census Bureau

Factory sales of MP3 players will rise from $424 million in 2003 to nearly $6 billion in 2007, according to projected sales. Additionally, sales of digital television sets and monitors for the same period are estimated to increase from $8.7 billion to $26.3 billion.

The transition in consumer electronics from analog to digital format is just one of the many changes taking place in American life that can be tracked in the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008. Published 1878, it is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on everything from the number of public school teachers to hotel accommodations, from online shipping to marital status.

Products are not the only things going digital; the process for acquiring them is as well. Of the $3.7 trillion in retail sales in 2005, $93 billion (2.5 percent) were recorded as e-commerce sales (Table 1019).

In 2005, electronic shopping and mail-order houses accounted for 70 percent ($65 billion) of e-commerce sales, most notably from computer hardware (14 percent), clothing (12 percent), and drugs and beauty aids (10 percent). Motor vehicle and parts dealers made up another 18 percent of e-commerce sales (Table 1019 and 1020).

Between 2004 and 2005, Internet publishing and broadcasting operating revenue increased by 19 percent. Revenue from online advertising space increased by 29 percent (Table 1116). Meanwhile, the number of daily newspapers continued to decline, from 1,611 in 1990 to 1,437 in 2006. Circulation fell from 62.3 million subscribers to 52.3 million (Table 1102).

The 2008 Statistical Abstract may be obtained by calling the U.S.Government Printing Office at 202-512-1800 (ISBN No. 978-0-16-079581-7, $35for the soft cover edition; and No. 978-0-16-079584-8, $39 for the hardcover edition <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/>).

It also may be obtained by calling the National Technical InformationService at 800-553-6847 (PB2008965801, $35 for the softbound edition; andPB2008965301, $39 for the hardbound edition <http://www.ntis.gov/>).