Consumers Prefer Tablets Over World Peace for Holidays
If consumers could pick only one outcome for the holiday season, they would rather receive a tablet than achieve world peace. The preference is almost 2-to-1 with tablets being chosen as the top priority by 8% of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) survey respondents versus only 4.5% seeking world peace (see the snapshot below). This and many other insights were shared at the 2013 International CES preview last week in New York City.
Tablets are making such a significant impact on consumers’ lives that the CEA expects a 112% increase in tablet purchases from the 4Q of 2011. That would result in nearly 32M units being sold during 4Q of 2012. Based on the CEA’s national sample of over 1,000 U.S. adults, 76% of holiday gift spending will be on consumer electronics.
Retailers are so focused on the upcoming frenzy for consumer electronics that over 100 tablet promotions are planned for Black Friday. For example, Walmart continues to honor the Apple iPad 2 price of $399 (16GB with WiFi), yet bundles it with a $75 gift card to entice shoppers. We can expect a similar promotion or price reduction by Apple directly on Friday. Last year, the iPad 2 was discounted by $40 for Apple’s flagship Black Friday deal; that was several months in advance of the New iPad release.
Consumers will also have more to choose from with recent tablet entries:
- Apple iPad mini ($329);
- Best Buy Insignia Flex ($249);
- Microsoft Surface RT ($499); and
- Toys R Us Tabeo $149.
Despite the recent additions to the tablet landscape, Apple products continue to be the preferred tablet of choice according to PriceGrabber, a leading online shopping and price comparison site. The most recent PriceGrabber survey revealed that the power of the Apple brand will remain strong. When asked which tablet consumers preferred to receive as a gift, 63% of consumers the iPad 3 (New iPad®) or the iPad 4. The iPad mini ranked second with 24%. The rest of the Top 5 brands in rank order included the Samsung® Galaxy Note® Tab, the Amazon® Kindle Fire HD® and the Microsoft® Surface® tablet.
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