Any business that markets or sells products to kids needs to be aware of the role of these CE devices in their lives.
Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group

On average, kids ages 4 to 14 are using consumer electronics (CE) devices six months earlier than they were in the 2005 study, according to The NPD Group's recently released report, Kids and Consumer Electronics II. According to the report, both CE devices and video game systems are becoming more entrenched in the lives of kids today, with nine of the 11 CE devices measured in the study being used more today than in the past.

Portable CE products are showing strong growth in usage and purchase intent, especially among older kids. Purchase intent for kids is highest for "hot ticket" items such as digital cameras, cell phones and portable video game systems, which are all leaders and/or big gainers in terms of kids' personal ownership & usage.

Overall household ownership shows desktop PCs, DVD players, non-portable televisions and cell phones dominating, with digital cameras, portable digital music players and laptop computers gaining ground. In terms of personal ownership, more than twice the amount of kids personally own portable digital music players and digital cameras this year versus 2005, while cell phone ownership is up by 50 percent.

"Any business that markets or sells products to kids needs to be aware of the role of these CE devices in their lives," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. Frazier added that today's kids are digital natives whose activities are fundamentally different than previous generations.