Shoppers to Go on an Electronics Diet in 2009: Forrester

Posted on by Chief Marketer Staff

The consumer electronics industry may get a colder shoulder this year than in 2008 from as many as half of American consumers, according to research introduced by Forrester Research and timed for this week’s pair of large consumer tech conventions in Las Vegas and San Francisco.

The online poll of more than 5,000 U.S. adults found about 51% saying they would curb their technology spending this year because of economic pressures.

Asked how likely they are to buy devices in specific categories, about two-thirds of respondents said they are less likely to buy satellite-enabled radios this year than they were in 2008. Another 63% said they would probably refrain from buying a smartphone such as the iPhone 3G—whose recent addition to the product line at Wal-Mart has been touted as heralding the mass-market arrival of mobile Web devices.

Sixty-two percent of those polled by Forrester also said they would be less likely to buy a videogame console than they were last year. Of course, many may not have to; they may already have received a new console this Christmas. The Nintendo Wii game system was one of the retail bright spots in November 2008 and appears to have been a strong seller all the way thought the holiday. Google searches for the Wii on Dec. 26 were reportedly up 28% from the same day last year. (The Forrester Research survey was conducted in November 2008.)

What in the tech area are shoppers less prone to shy away from? High-def televisions and communications services such as broadband and mobile connectivity, according to the survey. Only half of respondents said they would be less likely to buy an HDTV this year, while 7% reported that they were more likely to make that purchase—possibly motivated by next month’s changeover to a digital signal.

And interest in Internet and mobile services remains steady, Forrester found, with 83% of respondents saying they have no plans to change their Internet service. In fact 2% of those polled said they expect to upgrade that service this year. Somewhat fewer—70%– reported that they will retain their mobile phone service as is this year, with the same 2% reporting plans to spend on enhanced phone service levels.

Cable providers and the standard copper-wire telcos may have a rougher time of it in 2009, however. Some 14% of Forrester survey respondents said they will consider scaling back or opting out of premium cable packages and landline phone service.

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