Global technology spending is expected to decline 2 percent to $950 billion in 2016.

Blame falling prices for smartphones, TVs and laptops and weak economic growth in places like China. All that is putting a damper on growing categories like wearable fitness bands, smart home devices and drones.

Steve Koenig, the Consumer Technology Association's director of market research, announced the grim forecast at the opening press briefing at CES, the annual gadget show in Las Vegas that officially kicks off Wednesday.

Among other headwinds are the strong dollar, which makes devices sold in other currencies seem worse. The CTA's forecast is calculated in U.S. dollars.

Another big forecast is that tablets are being squeezed out of the market, as smartphones come with larger screens and convertible laptops act like tablets when detached from their keyboards.

Global unit sales of tablets are seen falling for the second year in a row, to 176 million units from 192 million last year. The peak was in 2014 when 224 million tablets were sold.

- Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer, Las Vegas