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ith sales driven primarily by the new-home market and replacement purchases, the appliance industry has historically lacked a key ingredient when it comes to cooking up sales based on more than necessity. That missing component has been innovation. Conversely, the consumer electronics industry has traditionally worked off the premise that the best way to convince customers to buy a new product is to offer something new. Maytag decided to test the theory on appliance consumers with the introduction of Neptune, a high-priced super-efficient washing machine introduced in 1997. The world's top appliance makers: AB Electrolux, GE Consumer & Industrial, Haier, Whirlpool, and Maytag itself were shocked with the new appliance's success. Neptune's booming sales showed the old-school appliance makers that the industry could move beyond a needs-based market and appeal to consumers who follow trends and seek luxury. Many appliance makers hope the modernization of their products will soon alleviate the repercussions of static appliance production. The dullness of the past two decades filled the market with appliances that have been more similar than different, forcing the industry into stiff pricing competition. That competition drove down profits, sinking company stocks and pushing away retailers. (The #2 US consumer electronics retailer, Circuit City, dropped appliances in favor of home office equipment in 2000.) Although it is subject to many of the same hurdles most industries