e-readers and anything 3D would be big, especially in the TV market and also in the laptop market /
AUSTRALIANS are set to splurge on electronic gadgets this Christmas, with MP3 players, smartphones, tablets, laptops, 3D televisions and gaming consoles the in-demand items for children and adults.
For those already loaded up with digital devices, there’s quirkier stuff, too, such as Lady Gaga or Dr Dre headphones, wireless charging pads, a children’s book that talks like mum and dad, external hard disk drives, ”cyber-clean” gunk, and Barbie boom boxes.
According to market researchers GfK, Australians spent $1.7 billion on consumer electronics in the last quarter of 2009, a figure expected to rise this year.
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David Allen of the National Associated Retail Traders of Australia said one well-known brand would dominate sales of music players and tablets.
”Obviously anything with a lower-case i is going to be pretty strong … iPods will continue to do well. Apple dominate that MP3 market so heavily, it’s very hard for other brands,” he said.
Mr Allen said iPod docks – which allow the player to be plugged into a home hi-fi system – further cemented Apple’s dominance of the market.
”The iPod is seen as an audio source in the same way that CD players and cassette decks used to be. IPod docks of all sorts and categories are going to be one of the biggest sellers. Every device seemingly has some sort of iPod dock on it – the clock radio, hi-fi system, tablets, radio, digital radio.”
Smartphones would be a ”star” seller, with iPhones, Samsung, LG and HTC doing the most business, he said.
However, Toshiba was tops in the notebook market, with Acer and Asus clear leaders in the netbook category.
There are some surprises as well. ”In terms of actual units, [the biggest sellers] are actually hard disk drives. They sell in crazy, crazy numbers. I don’t know if it’s going to be the most popular Christmas present but it’s one that flies under the radar,” Mr Allen said.
Another booming category, he said, was digital single-lens reflex cameras – digital cameras with features common to old-style 35-millimetre cameras – with models from Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung all selling strongly.
Wireless charging for mobile phones and MP3 players is also catching on. ”Rather than having to plug it in you just stick it on a little pad and it charges.”
Another left-of-centre item is Cyber Clean electronics cleaning putty.
”It’s silly putty stuff that you can use to clean the muck and grit and grime stuck in your keyboard or mobile phone.”
Tech devices with child-oriented branding such as Disney and Barbie also sell well, said Mr Allen. ”This time of year is huge for that gear.”
Tyson White, merchandise manager with Dick Smith, predicted the Franklin AnyBook would be a big hit with kids. ”Mum or dad read the book into a special pen, then put a removable sticker into the corner of each page. When kids want to read the book they touch the stickers with the pen, which then replays the words for that page in the voice of mum or dad.
”For dads who go away, or for grandparents who don’t live close by, the kids can have them read a book without them actually being there.”
Mr White said that e-readers and anything 3D would also be big, ”especially in the TV market and also in the laptop market … there’s a 3D laptop from Toshiba that we expect will be pretty big”.
That point was echoed by Gary Brown, brand manager for Harvey Norman, who said that 3D televisions also offered the best-quality 2D image as well, making them a compelling buy.
”If you’re looking at a TV that you want for the next 10 years, you want to future-proof yourself against emerging technology,” Mr Brown said.
He said Panasonic’s $2499 3D package – a 127-centimetre plasma 3D TV with Blu-ray home theatre, a set of 3D eyewear, and a copy of the 3D movie Avatar on Blu-ray – was probably the best value, although Samsung’s package includes a second television while the Sony PlayStation also allows for 3D gaming.
Carene Myers, Harvey Norman manager of small appliances, said headphones were popular, particular fashionable ones from brands such as Lady Gaga and Dr Dre.
Ben McIntosh, Harvey Norman manager of computers, said iPads would sell in enormous quantities, although the Samsung Galaxy Tab would try to take some of its market share.
Mr McIntosh reserved most praise for Microsoft’s new Xbox gaming system.
”It is just very, very, very exciting … it’s really going to surprise a lot of people, it’s going to be massive,” he said.
Mr McIntosh said the new Kinect peripheral feature of Xbox, which tracks users’ body movements and voice commands, would be popular.
”There’s a camera sensor that plugs into the console. It reads the human body and creates an avatar (computer image of the user) of you. You move, and the avatar on screen moves, and then you can use that in a game … It is absolutely going to go off.”