Holiday Gadget and Consumer Electronics Shopping Trends
Consumers always tend to give and get new products throughout the holiday season, with many types of gadgets easily notching up 40-50% of annual sales during the year’s last three months. So what’s the prediction in terms of items that will be top performers this year? Retailers’ anticipate success for a wide range of products new and old, although those likeliest to move will be items with more competitive pricing.
Newegg and Best Buy are both expecting heightened sales in the three categories mentioned above, as well as for a few other specific name-brand products. Newegg says it is anticipating several major holiday bestsellers on its website, specifically Sony’s PSP Go handheld gaming system and all Apple products and related accessories. Amkreutz says the average online shopper tends to purchase portable items from the Web, so Apple’s iPods, iPod cases, docks and iPhone will be a big hit. And the PSP Go is one of the portable devices people are integrating into their daily life, he suggests, making it more likely to sell in bulk.
Similarly, Best Buy also predicts heightened sales for Apple products, most notably any type of iPod. But the electronics retailer is also hoping for a rise in PlayStation 3 sales since prices recently dropped on the set-top video game console to a decent $299.99.
Technology and Gadgets That Won’t Sell in 2009
Every type of tech enjoys its time in the limelight, but unfortunately for certain devices, insiders say success just isn’t meant to be in 2009. For instance, although new generations of the iPod are expected to do well this holiday season, they are currently being overshadowed by smaller MP3 players with a lower price point. In fact, Rivera says that Best Buy’s iPod sales haven’t been as strong as expected because people are buying cheaper MP3 players like the SanDisk Sansa Clip for $50 and Samsung’s U5 MP3 player for $40 instead. Rivera attributes declining sales performance to the smartphone phenomenon as well—more people are storing music on their high-priced mobile phones and aren’t willing to shell out even more precious cash for an iPod or Zune.
In addition, it’s insinuated that the one place where iPods and MP3 players are excelling is where a few other genres of tech are falling woefully short. CEA’s director of industry analysis Steve Koenig says that any gadget that does not have mobile capabilities did not do as well in 2009, naming desktop computers as the number one victim of 2009’s tech downfalls. The numbers speak for themselves, as desktops amounted to a measly 33% of total PC shipments in 2009, whereas in 2006 desktops shipments were at 54%, roughly even with notebooks. Koenig says that the world is becoming more mobile, making netbooks and notebooks much stronger sales candidates in 2009.
Similarly, Koenig names car audio equipment as being the number two contender for 2009’s epic sales failures. “In the automotive technology space, portable electronics like iPods, MP3 players and GPS systems are more popular than installable car stereos,” he says. Koenig notes that automakers are now designing cars that have built-in amplifiers and portable media outlets so even top-notch car stereo systems are not selling to boot. He also mentions that anything analogue is having a tough time in any market. “Even great technology is not selling if it’s not digital or mobile,” he concludes.
These hiccups aside though, the consumer love affair with portable devices and new HDTV models is a relationship expected to progress well into the coming calendar year, when new tech trends will also manifest. So for now at least retail-wise, in a few categories, it’s relatively smooth sailing, while others are starting to perilously founder and sink given their inability to compete on this year’s most important selling points: Price and convenience.
