Spending on personal technology gadgets is taking a hit from the slowdown in China and the strong dollar, researchers from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) said. The CTA forecast that $950 billion will be spent globally on consumer electronics this year in a 2 percent drop from the $969 billion spent last year.

"We are seeing pretty flat demand while we [wait] for new innovations to reach consumers," CTA senior director of market research, Steve Koenig, said as the premier Consumer Electronics Show (CES) prepared to get under way in Las Vegas, Nevada. Smartphones and tablet computers were expected to account for 46 percent of the money spent this year on consumer electronics, but new categories such as "wearables," drones and virtual reality gear should be making their presence felt in the market, according to Koenig. When mobile computers such as laptops are included with smartphones and tablets, the share of sales in the year was predicted to be 58 percent or some $551 billion.

"Over half a trillion dollars," Koenig said of the forecast. "I give you technology's triumvirate: Laptops, smartphones and tablets."

Smartphone shipments were predicted to cool a bit this year, growing about 8 percent to 1.4 billion devices.

Smartphone adoption is being pushed by progressively lower prices, which is especially important in markets such as China, Africa and the Middle East where high-end handsets are out of reach for many people. Meanwhile, the overall category of wearable computers that includes smartwatches should continue its "meteoric rise," and there will be "no shortage" of wearable computing gadgets on the CES show floor that officially opens on Wednesday, according to Koenig.