The table illustrates the percentage of households in New Zealand that possessed various electronic goods in 1998 and 2002. Overall, it is evident that ownership of most types of electronic devices increased over the period, particularly for newer technologies such as computers, cell phones and digital cameras, while the proportion of homes with video recorders declined.
In 1998, washing machines and colour TVs were the most common appliances, owned by 98% and 95% of households respectively. These figures remained almost unchanged by 2002, rising slightly to 98% and 97%.
A noticeable increase can be seen in the ownership of computers and cell phones. The percentage of homes with computers grew significantly from 50% in 1998 to 78% in 2002. Similarly, cell phone ownership rose sharply, quadrupling from 20% to 80%, making it one of the most widely used devices by the end of the period.
In contrast, the use of video recorders decreased moderately, falling from 75% to 60%. Meanwhile, dishwashers became much more common, with ownership rising from 18% to 55%. The most dramatic growth was recorded in digital cameras, which were barely used in 1998 at only 2%, but increased to 39% by 2002.