Electronics Gift Guide

A consumer spending slump dealt a blow to electronics makers in 2009. With industry sales expected to tumble 8% to $164.9 billion this year, Pioneer dropped out of the plasma HD television market and mobile Internet device innovator OQO shut its doors. Even the supposedly recession-proof video-game industry suffered steep sales declines.

But the year in tech wasn't all bad. Online retailer Amazon (AMZN) kicked off a frenzy of competition with its wireless Kindle e-Book readers. A certain operating system named Droid emerged to give Apple a run for its money in the smartphone market. And eco-friendly products, from big-screen televisions to music systems, became commonplace.

Read on for the 20 best products for 2009, as selected by BusinessWeek's technology writers and editors, as well as five highly anticipated products that failed to meet expectations.

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