Shopping intent in consumer electronics highest for smartphones this holiday

The NPD Group has announced that Holiday Shopping Intent Report This year’s findings show that among consumer electronics, purchase intent was highest for headphones, smartphones, tablets/e-readers and smartwatches this holiday season. 36% of consumers expect to buy a CE product this holiday, down slightly from last year (37%) but up from 2020 (33%)

“After two years of strong growth in support of household pandemic-era needs, consumers are expected to spend fewer dollars on CE this holiday season,” said Paul Gagnon, Vice President, Industry Advisor for NPD. “Categories such as smartphones and smartwatches are benefiting from consumers who plan to spend more time away from home.”

Among CE categories, consumer intent to purchase a smartphone is highest and compared to Holiday 2020, 27% more consumers are interested in purchasing a smartphone this holiday. Consumers with high discretionary income are the main drivers of this demand. In fact, 27% of respondents with an annual household income over $150,000 expressed interest in purchasing a smartphone this holiday, while only 13% in the $75,000-$150,000 income group and 12% of those making less than $75,000 expressed interest. .

Following smartphones, consumers showed interest in purchasing headphones and tablets/e-readers this holiday, with smartwatches making up the top four. Notably, interest in purchasing smartwatches reached a three-year high and had the strongest year-over-year interest gain of any CE category.

“Excitement about newly released devices and a long stretch of holiday promotions will help determine what consumers buy this holiday season,” said Ben Arnold, executive director and technology industry analyst for NPD. “In addition to these high interest categories, TV and smart home products continue to be CE staples during the holiday time frame. We can expect unit sales in these categories to drive growth for the fourth quarter.”

See also: More than a third of smart home device owners experienced technical difficulties this year