Consumers Buying CE on Price, Except For Tablets, ABI Survey Says

Consumers continue to view 3D TV “with some hesitation,” according to ABI Research’s survey of 2,024 U.S. consumers aged 14-64 about CE products they own and future purchase intent for technology. Factors limiting 3D TV appeal include a lack of interest in 3D content, which ABI said could be “due to limited availability,” along with high price, aversion to 3D glasses and lack of consumer education. The largest segment of survey respondents, 46 percent, planned no CE purchases over the next six months, the survey said.

Eleven percent of respondents planned to buy a tablet within 180 days, it said. Of the 67 percent who said brand was “very critical” to the purchase decision, 54 percent said they'd choose an iPad. Microsoft’s brand awareness carried through, despite the company’s limited visibility in the current crop of tablets, with 45 percent of respondents saying they'd buy a Microsoft tablet. Android tablets trailed at 36 percent of purchase intent, Michael Inouye, senior analyst, told us. Consumer intent results for tablet purchases were “surprising” but “give some hope to Microsoft,” ABI said. Inouye noted that Microsoft gave a peek into Windows 8 Wednesday, which is being positioned for touchscreen use in tablets and desktops down the road.

Consumers continue to weigh price as a top consideration when evaluating CE purchases, ABI said, suggesting “continued heightened price sensitivity.” Price was either the first or second cited factor for most devices. Exceptions were digital cameras, where price trailed zoom range and megapixels, and portable video game devices, where price was third to screen size and controls, ABI said. Price was also a lesser consideration in laptops, where processor speed, memory, storage capacity, and operating system took precedence. In tablets, price ranked seventh in importance among purchase factors behind processor speed, screen resolution, memory, storage capacity, operating system and screen size, Inouye told us.

HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and video game consoles led the list of products consumers intended to buy in the next six months, it said. Roughly a quarter of respondents said their highest-priority purchases over the next six months would likely be HDTVs, followed by Blu-ray players at 17 percent. Sixty percent of households surveyed already had one HDTV, ABI said. “Prices for HDTVs have fallen quite a bit, and many households are now replacing their second- and third-string televisions,” Inouye said. Even if consumers don’t necessarily want to view HD content, there’s little choice other than HD, he noted.

Video game consoles topped the wish list for consumers at 16 percent, ABI said. Current ownership was 59 percent, it said, with Wii leading at 57 percent penetration, followed by Xbox 360 with 43 percent, PS2 with 24 percent and PS3 at 28 percent, Inouye said.