While none of my friends and family would dare to buy me a gadget for Christmas – they’d only get it wrong – for as long as I can remember, technology has taken its fair share of present space under the tree. Not this year though, predicts an opportunistic survey carried out by Opinion Matters on behalf of the UK’s Mobile Fun, which sells mobile accessories online.
It found that over two thirds of UK adults are not planning to buy a single gadget in a bid to cut costs this Christmas. Although part of the discrepancy between this year and previous years is that the gadgets that shoppers do want are far too expensive: Yes, I’m looking at you iPad.
That’s because Apple’s tablet tops the wish list but prices start at around £429, along with the iPhone 4, priced at £499. The problem is that the average budget for gadget-oriented presents this year, according to those surveyed, is a much more modest £275 per gift, with only half of consumers willing to spend up to £200 on gadgets. Thus “buyers are unable to fulfill their friends and family’s expensive gadget wishes”, notes the accompanying report.
The Amazon Kindle, Apple iPod Touch and Nintendo Wii were next on the list and are, of course, more affordable, but their prices still range from £109 for the Amazon Kindle to around £157 for the Wii console and up to £294.49 for a 64GB version of the iPod touch.
The survey also found that the least wanted gadget gifts this Christmas are netbooks – so last year – and laptops but these are also some of the most likely to land under the tree.
Oh dear.
That said, Apple’s iPod touch comes out as the most likely purchase. Other likely stocking fillers include the Kindle, Kinect for Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and digital cameras.