Smartphones Top List of Desired Holiday Tech Gifts, Laptops 2nd, Says CTA

CTA forecasts a 10% spending lift on consumer tech hardware and services during the Q4 holiday season, to $135 billion, it said Wednesday. NPD's September forecast pegged projected holiday revenue growth at 18% (see 2009090033). Some 81% of U.S. adults are “more likely” or “just as likely” to buy tech products during the season, despite economic and safety concerns during the pandemic, said CTA's survey of 2,007 U.S. adults Sept. 10-13.

“With consumers forgoing budgets for travel and experiences this year, more dollars will go towards technology gifts that support connection, productivity, health and entertainment,” said Lesley Rohrbaugh, CTA director-market research. Tech has been a “critical asset” to consumers during the pandemic, she said.

The top tech gifts consumers want most to receive are smartphones, laptops, videogame consoles, TVs and wearables. Game consoles, seventh last year, moved up four notches, ahead of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 releases, riding stay-at-home trends, CTA said. Thirty-eight percent of U.S. adults plan to buy a video console as a gift, up 5 points from 2019. About 70% of holiday shoppers plan to buy at least one content-related gift this season such as gaming, video or audio streaming services, it said.

Forty-five percent of consumers expect to buy at least one smartphone as a gift in Q4, a 4-point increase from 2019. Of those, 66% expect to upgrade to a 5G model, CTA said. Accessorizing smartphones will be popular in gifting, with 48% of shoppers planning to buy a mobile phone case as a gift, said the survey.

Interest in education-oriented tech products to supplement home-based learning has grown, said CTA, citing an increased focus on products geared toward science, technology, engineering and math. Some 26% of U.S. adults plan to gift kits dedicated to engineering, robotics and coding for the holidays, up 5 points vs. 2019.

Despite a rise in e-commerce shopping during the pandemic, 85% of adults plan to buy tech gifts in brick-and-mortar stores this season, 79% online, said the trade group. Two-thirds of shoppers said the ability to socially distance from others will be a key factor in how they plan to shop. “This season, more consumers will choose to shop with the retailers that provide safe shopping experiences and alternative methods of getting orders to the consumer such as contactless delivery and curbside pickup,” said Rohrbaugh.

A KPMG survey also released Wednesday yielded a result considerably more pessimistic than CTA’s holiday outlook. Consumers plan to buy fewer gifts and spend 18% less this holiday season than last year, said the firm. It canvassed 1,000 consumers in September, finding 41% who said COVID-19 fears will prevent them from shopping Black Friday sales in person. Clothing and accessories top the categories in which respondents expect the biggest spending declines compared with last year, followed by gift cards and electronics, said KPMG.