The United States as well as the rest of the world’s economies may be in the doldrums, but new data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the GfK Group suggests that consumers will still be spending on their toys. The two groups predict that worldwide revenue for consumer electronics (CE) will grow nearly 10% this year, hitting the $700 billion mark by 2009.

Not only will consumers spend more on CE in the next year, but mobile devices will lead the list of consumer electronics on spending. Consumers will spend $42 billion more on CE products in 2009 over 2008. Countries such as Brazil, China, India and Russia will lead the way in new CE revenue growth. By 2009, China will account for nearly 15% of global CE revenue, trailing only North America at 22% and Western Europe at 16%.

Sales of mobile products will exceed 1.5 billion units in 2008. Portable navigation devices (GPS)will lead the way with 20% in 2008. Laptop computers (up 15%) and mobile phones/smartphones (up 14%) also will see strong sales.