A study conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has determined that the average American household spends approximately $1,200 annually on electronics products. The study, which also provides insight into the popularity of various kinds of consumer electronics products, was devised and conducted by CEA Market Research in February.

According to the study, televisions are the most popular consumer electronics product, and can be found in 92 percent of American households. HDTVs, which significantly increased in popularity this past year, can already be found in 25 percent of American households. Mobile phones, which are owned by 76 percent of American households, are also amongst the most common consumer electronics devices.

In the past year, the largest growth was seen in network hardware (e.g., wireless access points, routers) and digital video recorders, both of which increased by 8 percent. A quarter of American households now own a DVR and 30 percent own network hardware. Digital audio players (owned by 32 percent of American households) and digital cameras (owned by 62 percent of American households) also saw tremendous growth in the past year.

"Many of the top owned products have enjoyed mass-market saturation for years and will likely see growth based on upgrade and replacement sales," said CEA senior research analyst Elena Caudle. "Some of the more intriguing categories are those that still occupy niche markets, such as mobile CE devices like GPS systems and satellite radio, which have seen healthy growth in the past few years."

The study also determined that the average teen spends approximately half of their total discretionary income on consumer electronics products, and households with teenagers and children typically exceed the national average expenditure of $1,200 by up to $500, likely due to digital audio player and cell phone purchases.

The CEA's study does not segment the statistics into categories such as early adopters and technophiles like us. A quick survey of the staff here at Ars showed that almost all of us had surpassed the $1,200 figure by a good deal during 2006. It's not too difficult to do it: a cell phone upgrade, an iPod, a console, a handful of games, and a GPS unit is enough to push one past the national average. How close to the national average are you?