Three In Four U.S. Consumers Have Digital Products On Holiday Wish List

Three out of four U.S. consumers are hoping that special someone brings them at least one digital lifestyle product for the holiday season, with high-definition TVs leading a top-10 wish list of products, a research firm said Tuesday.

A national survey of 1,200 consumers found 35% are hoping for a flat-screen HDTV, Solutions Research Group said in its "Digital Life America" study released Wednesday. Coming in second were Windows-based notebooks, 20%; followed by digital cameras, 17%.

Overall, 76% of the respondents wanted at least one digital lifestyle product for the holiday season, SRG found. Interestingly, despite HDTVs topping the list, only 2% of the respondents intended to get a high-definition set-top box from their cable or satellite company, which means most TV recipients won't be able to watch true HD movies and TV shows, SRG said.

The hottest Apple product in the survey was the MacBook, ranking No. 11 overall. The iPhone was second at No. 15. Even though no individual computer maker's products broke the top 10 overall, Apple-branded products as a whole would have landed the company in the top 5, with one in six consumers considering a purchase. The findings suggest a strong holiday season for the company, SRG said.

Men and women had six common items in the top 10. The rest were unique by gender. The Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 video game consoles were top choices for the men who were queried, while TiVo/digital video recorders and Apple notebooks were unique to the women's wish list.

The Nintendo Wii was the highest-ranked console, coming in No. 8 overall and edging out the PS3, which was No. 9 choice. The Xbox was ranked No. 12.

Digital cameras were popular across the board, ranking either No. 2 or 3 in all age or gender groups. A global positioning system for navigation in cars was the No. 5 item among men, and No. 7 among women.

The top 10 items overall in descending order were HDTVs, Windows notebooks, digital cameras, Windows desktop computers, GPS car navigation systems, cell phones, digital video cameras, the Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3, and Blu-ray or HD-DVD high-definition DVD players.