The Ceramics Manufacturing industry produces a diverse mix of products, including advanced and technical ceramics, plumbing fixtures, kitchenware, pottery products and lightweight body armor.

This industry has contended with high import competition, which has been exasperated by increases in the trade-weighted index and weakened demand from the Semiconductor and Circuit Manufacturing industry.

However, growth in housing starts and increased demand from automobile electronics manufacturing have supported revenue growth.

Over the five years to 2021, industry revenue is expected to increase at an annualized rate of 1.8% to $2.6 billion.

This includes a 6.6% decrease in revenue in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 (coronavirus), which has greatly reduced downstream demand in construction and housing markets, as well as exports.

Nevertheless, research anticipates industry revenue to rebound 4.3% in 2021 alone.

Furthermore, overall import competition is expected to remain high during the current period, with imports expected to account for 81.3% of domestic demand in 2021.

Additionally, industry profit is expected to remain steady during the current period.

Changing consumer trends and economic growth have translated into pressured demand for cereal over the five years to 2021.

Low-carb diets have grown increasingly popular, limiting the number of consumers buying cereal, while other health-conscious consumers are only interested in cereals made with healthy ingredients.

Moreover, industry revenue has been pressured as consumers have leveraged their rising disposable incomes to indulge in premium breakfast foods, such as breakfast sandwiches from restaurants.

Consumer preferences are increasingly shifting toward convenient and portable foods as free time becomes more limited, also hampering demand for industry products.

Nevertheless, cereal popularity has grown in recent years, particularly amid stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Consequently, industry revenue has increased at an annualized rate of 2.2% to $11.5 billion over the five years to 2021, including an increase of 0.7% in 2021 alone.

Positive trends in demand variables and near constant demand from poultry processors have been outweighed by the price of poultry meat declining over the five years to 2021.

However, increased demand for chicken as a substitute for other meats, particularly red meat, has also helped limit revenue declines.

In addition, increasing health consciousness among US consumers has boosted consumption of white meat in general.

However, in 2015, the price of poultry meat began to decline significantly as the price of feed plummeted.

As feed is the largest input cost for meat producers, the price of feed is directly tied to the price of meat, including poultry and substitutes, such as beef and pork.

This decline has made the industry more competitive.

Industry revenue has decreased at an annualized rate of 3.4% to $29.6 billion over the five years to 2021.

The Video Conferencing Software Developers industry is expected to expand rapidly over the five years to 2020.

The industry’s communications tools have increasingly become indispensable to the operation and continuity of large organizations, particularly large corporations.

This trend has been encouraged by several key trends shaping the corporate landscape, including highly globalized work forces, work from home policies and flatter organizational structures.

Additionally, the functionality and accessibility of video conferencing software has greatly improved as advancements have been made in both software and hardware during the period.

This seamless functionality and greater degree of integration has popularized the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) designation for more robust, enterprise-level platforms.

Overall, the industry’s product innovation and growing indispensability is expected to drive revenue growth of an annualized 25.9% to $7.3 billion over the five years to 2020.

The Video Game Software Publishing industry produces and distributes video game software for video game consoles, personal computers and mobile devices.

The popularity of smartphone video games and established console game franchises, such as Call of Duty and FIFA, stimulated industry revenue growth over the five years to 2020.

Moreover, mobile video games grew substantially as a portion of industry revenue over the past five years, alongside proliferating smartphone ownership.

According to Pew Research, smartphone ownership in the United States has risen from 59.0% in 2015 to 81.0% in 2019, bolstering access to and demand for mobile games.

Overall, industry revenue rose at an annualized rate of 9.1% to $28.5 billion over the five years to 2020, despite stunted growth of 1.5% in 2020 as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic reduced consumer spending and confidence.

Operators in the Video Games Software Developers industry primarily develop video game software for use on computers, video game consoles and mobile devices.

Industry operators do not publish their software, which means industry software is developed independently or alongside a publisher.

First-party and independent developers are excluded, as these companies also handle publishing.

Most operators are second- or third-party developers, which means they are either part-owned or independent of larger industry publishers.

Operators may be contracted by a publisher to produce video game software, or they may sell the rights to their software to a publisher for distribution.

Industry revenue is heavily dependent on innovation within the broader Video Game Software Publishing industry (Research

report 51121e) in addition to consumer demand for video games.

The Website Creation Software Developers industry comprises companies that primarily develop and publish HTML editing software, which is used to design websites.

The industry has encountered significant growth over the five years to 2020, as digital content and delivery has become essential to consumers and businesses.

Rapid growth in the number of websites and how consumers interact has been fueled by a proliferating number of broadband connections, the advent of the smartphone and evolving consumer preferences.

Consequently, an opportunity has presented itself to web developers to create software enabling individuals and small businesses to easily create web pages for themselves or their businesses.

Moreover, expansion in the number of businesses in the United States has fueled demand for industry products and services during the period.

Altogether, industry revenue is estimated to have grown at an annualized rate of 7.7% to $10.9 billion over the five years to 2020.

Operators in the Software Publishing industry design, develop and publish software.

Industry revenue expanded rapidly over the five years to 2021, as businesses and consumers increased their investment in software, computers, smartphones and video games.

Rising private investment in computers and software stimulated demand from businesses, while higher consumer spending encouraged consumers to spend on software as well.

Moreover, new internet-based solutions and the increasing popularity of mobile devices have triggered an explosion of mobile software applications.

Industry revenue is estimated to rise at an annualized rate of 7.8% to $396.7 billion over the five years to 2021.

In 2020, the industry encountered remarkable revenue growth of 12.6%, as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic incentivized businesses to increase spending on software for remote operations and consumers increased spending on social and entertainment software offerings.

Revenue is anticipated to rise 3.3% in 2021.

Revenue for the Software Testing Services industry has grown more quickly than that of the overall Information sector (Research

report 51) over the five years to 2020, with industry revenue rising at an annualized rate of 12.1% to $6.1 billion during the current period.

Since testing is an integral part of the development process, demand for software testing services ultimately derives from total demand for software, including traditional software packages, cloud-based solutions and mobile applications.