"The holiday outlook for our industry is a merry one," said Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. "Consumers' confidence in the economy is on the rise and the CE industry will benefit. CE gifts dominate a quarter of the overall holiday gift giving market. And consumers tend to shop with a 'one for you-one for me' mindset during the holiday season. As a result, gifts for others only account for about half of the volume of sales in the fourth quarter."

According to the survey, overall household spending for the holidays (factoring in gifts, decorations, food, travel and other assorted holiday expenses) will be up 14 percent this year to $1,625. Of that, half will be spent on gifts - a 27 percent increase compared to last year - and consumers will spend $195 on average for CE gifts.

"The upgrade cycle is driving a lot of this growth. Lured in by the declining prices on many new digital products, consumers are spending more for consumer electronics on average than they have in the past. An example of this is the MP3 player versus the portable CD player. The initial price for an MP3 player is higher than the initial price five or 10 years ago for a portable CD player," said Wargo.

The survey also tracked what consumer electronics consumers want the most (wish list items) and what they are mostly likely to give (gift list items) this holiday season. For the second year in a row, MP3 players topped the wish list among adults. The rest of the top 10 list included: all types DVD players/recorders, digital cameras, laptops and PCs, televisions, video game systems, cellular phones, camcorders and HDTV.

For the third year in a row, CEA also surveyed teen participants aged 12-17. Rounding out the top three CE wish list items for teens were MP3 players, video game consoles and computers.

"Our survey also measured where technology ranks in consumers' overall holiday wish list. For adults, most wanted clothes, peace and happiness, money, computers and digital cameras. For teens, clothes, CDs books, video games and money are the most desired gifts this holiday season."

Source: Press Release

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