China's consumer tech could overtake the US within 2 years

The Chinese consumer technology market could overtake the US within the next two years as evidenced at the recent Consumer Electronics Show Asia (CES Asia). This show is not as large as its US counterpart but this situation looks set to change with the emergence of new technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented/virtual reality. These groups demand a higher price thereby driving up growth and revenue and are already a feature of everyday life in China. Conversely, the US market has reported a fall in prices of technology products such as Ultra High Definition (or 4K) televisions even though sales remain stable, which hints at worrying times ahead for that consumer market.

Tech enthusiasts the world over will be zeroing in on Shanghai as the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia kicks off on Wednesday. While it's considerably smaller than its U.S. counterpart, CES Las Vegas, that may not be the case for much longer.

Speaking to CNBC on the sidelines of the event, Gary Shapiro, president and CEO at the Consumer Technology Association, the show's organizer, said that China's consumer technology market could soon overtake that of the world's largest economy.

"The U.S. is still bigger but this year or the next, we expect the Chinese market on a dollar or yen value will exceed it," Shapiro said.

China's consumer technology market is currently posting about 3 percent annual growth, Shaprio said. While that's slower than recent years, it's still stronger than the majority of the world, he added.

"As unit costs come down, then you see a slowdown in total revenue. But at the same time, we're seeing tremendous new product introductions in virtual reality, augmented reality, the Internet of Things—new categories that are higher priced and should drive growth going forward."

The U.S. meanwhile, is showing worrying signs, Shapiro said, pointing to examples such as the 4K television market, where unit sales are doing well but prices are falling. 4K televisions, also known as Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs, offer higher resolution picture quality than previous models.