Date: 03/01/2011

The U.S. tech-gadget customer is now performance/price conscious

ABI Research after conducting a survey of 2000 US consumers in August, 2010 finds out that for most products (game consoles and Internet appliances excepted) price was uppermost in shoppers' minds. (For game consoles, brand outranked price as the most important factor. Price was also less critical for Internet appliances because many products carry similar pricetags.).

Participants were asked about their technology purchasing plans in the next six months and the features they most (and least often) wanted in the devices on their wish-lists.

According to industry analyst Michael Inouye, "Price-consciousness could easily explain how the TV manufacturers ended up with surplus stock: higher-end TVs did not fare as well as expected. It also forced many retailers and TV makers to offer incentives, either discounts or bundles. In many cases these bundles included 3D glasses, Blu-ray players or game consoles." Nonetheless, many survey respondents said they intended to delay major purchases beyond the 6-month "window" of the survey questions.

Best Buy had a rather poor shopping season this year, with lower sales than anticipated, and some loss of market share. Inouye believes that too related to price-awareness: "Best Buy, from what we could see, just didn't discount as deeply as its competitors."

Primary research director Janet Wise also believes that consumers are better-educated about tech products now. "In the past, consumers may have known little about what was available and instead focused on brand, or on the advice of the retailer. Now we see more savvy consumers who look for the greatest value as well as the best prices."

ABI survey on computer purchase has revealed desktops are the most common type of computer in consumers' homes, consumers are more than twice as likely (35%) to buy laptops, netbooks, or media tablets than desktops in the next six months

But for desktops, which are often priced lower (per spec) than laptops, respondents picked processor speed, memory, and storage capacity above price. Consumers perceive these computers as offering processing power and plenty of storage, perhaps acting as the central hub for a digital library.

Primary research director Janet Wise adds, "In netbooks, much media attention has been devoted to the processors because this often has an impact on users' experience. So the majority of consumers cite processor speed as a netbook's most important feature. . As well as a definite shift to laptops, there is greater overlap between netbook and laptop segments."