Shortly before LIKE A (2 to 6 September 2022) the digital association bit bowl listened to the hearts of consumers and asked what drives ITC consumers. Sales of classic entertainment electronics in Germany have shown a slight decline. These should amount to 8.7 billion euros this year, compared to 8.9 billion a year earlier. Two years ago, the industry raised 9.3 billion euros with consumer electronics.

Bitkom justifies the downward trend by stating that many consumers bought new devices in the first year of the corona pandemic to pass the time at home. Currently there is little need for replacement. According to the association, the situation is also complicated by the constant supply bottlenecks and the lack of semiconductors.

As always, flat screen TVs make up the largest share of sales with EUR 3.77 billion (2021: EUR 3.9 billion). This is followed by audio and video accessories with 1.7 billion euros (2021: 1.6 billion) and audio devices with 0.96 billion euros (2021: 1.15 billion). Game consoles are expected to generate sales of EUR 0.76 billion (2021: EUR 0.8 billion). There is little movement in the smartphone market: turnover is expected to reach 11.5 billion euros this year, slightly more than in 2021, when only 11 billion euros were sold. Germans will spend an average of 527 euros on a smartphone this year.

Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder believes that consumer technology needs new perspectives. He relies on the metaverse as a source of inspiration, it could “significantly shape the market”. Bitkom describes the Metaverse as a “virtual, three-dimensional extension of the real world, in which one lives as a digital twin or avatar and in the future can also work and engage in everyday activities, such as going to a university or a concert.”

In the Metaverse, virtual goods could be purchased with real money. According to Bitkom, behind the avatars are real people, behind virtual machines real plant parks in the sense of a digital twin. Access to the parallel digital universe is possible on a PC, smartphone or with virtual reality glasses, with augmented reality playing a more important role. In general, the Metaverse is based on established technologies such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), blockchain or artificial intelligence.

According to Bitkom, the awareness of the Metaverse is increasing: a good quarter of Germans (27 percent) have heard of it, compared to 17 percent in February 2022. Of those 27 percent, half don’t know exactly what it’s about, and only a third can roughly say what the Metaverse is about. That leaves only a small minority of five percent of the German population who really dares to say what it is about.

Regardless of the usually less pronounced knowledge, many people in the Bitkom survey are open to the Metaverse. After briefly explaining the topic as part of the survey, 27 percent said they could imagine shopping there. 22 percent would meet up with friends in the Metaverse, and just as many would go to concerts there. Only a fifth would like the personal avatar as a virtual image to look exactly like the person themselves, 51 percent would not like that.

Against the backdrop of the Metaverse trend, VR and AR glasses are likely to spark interest at IFA: while the former have been on the market for several years, the consumer segment AR glasses market is unlikely to get off the ground until 2023 according to the Association’s forecast. 18 percent of Germans already use VR glasses at least occasionally, usually for gaming, watching movies or virtually traveling to another place. In 2020 that was only 14 percent. A third of VR users play sports with associated applications, 20 percent follow education and learning projects.

With augmented reality, digital content is displayed in real environments. This is already happening with, for example, camera filters on smartphones that add digital content such as funny ears and glasses to people’s faces. Another example is tape measure apps. AR glasses that look almost like normal glasses are expected in the future. However, they are not yet available. Half of the people surveyed by Bitkom could imagine such a device. However, three quarters would only accept AR glasses that do not have a built-in camera from others. 24 percent would like the AR glasses to show information about people in their environment, such as their name or social media profiles.

Meanwhile, digital language assistants have already made their way into households: 47 percent of internet users already use speakers like the Amazon Echo or Google Home, and many already use them to control their smart homes.

Especially young people between the ages of 16 and 29 are enthusiastic about it (61 percent), the value is somewhat lower among 30 to 49 year olds (49 percent) and 50 to 64 year olds (46 percent). Voice commands on the smartphone have already become a matter of course for more than 90 percent of users. And 63 percent of those who give voice commands use it to control their smart TV, and 47 percent use voice control in the car.

Even more than language assistants, video streaming has become the norm for many people: 75 percent of those surveyed aged 16 and older watch movies or series on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Co. or use clips on YouTube, Vimeo, and social media. Last year it was only 70 percent. While 41 percent only use free offers, video streaming is worth money to the others: 44 percent call up movies or series once and pay for it. 35 percent have a subscription.

Of the subscribers, 24 percent have only one paid subscription, 36 percent use two and 29 percent even use three or more services. The average spend for video streaming in Germany is 18 euros per month and per person. Free video portals are not only used for video streaming but also for listening to music. Overall, 67 percent of Germans stream music, podcasts or audiobooks at least occasionally – and the majority of them use video portals to do so.

Bitkom’s trend study “Future of Consumer Technology – 2022” not only covers the topics of metaverse, AR & VR, but also in the field of language assistants, streaming and wearables and is available here ready to download for free. (ss)