The table illustrates the proportion of New Zealand households possessing seven electronic appliances in 1998 and 2002.
What is immediately clear is that by 2002, households in this country had become notably better equipped, as shown in the increasing ownership of most electronic products. The only exception to this development was video recorders, which in fact became less popular after four years.
Almost all households in New Zealand had washing machines and color TVs in 1998, with percentages of ownership standing at 98% and 95%, respectively. While the figure for washing machines stayed the same, that for color TVs increased marginally to 97%, which meant that these two products were the two most popular appliances in both years.
Meanwhile, around 50% of New Zealand households had computers in 1998, and this number experienced a marked increase of 28% to reach 78% in 2002. However, the most significant rise in terms of ownership was found in cellphones, of which figures increased fourtimes from 20% to 80%, making them the third most popular product as a result. Households owning digital cameras also saw a considerable increase from 2% to nearly 40%, which was similar to the threefold increase in households with dishwashers to reach 55% in 2002.
The only product whose popularity diminished was video recorders, as the percentage of households having this item dropped by a fifth, from 75% to 60% over the four-year period.