Canadians who find their stockings stuffed with productivity-boosting electronic gadgets this Christmas are most likely to find a laptop, and equally as likely to find a desktop computer crammed in there as they are a tablet tucked neatly in the toe.
Delvinia Data Collection recently conducted a poll for ITBusiness.ca of its AskingCanadians panel members, asking what technology they planned to buy this holiday season. Laptops or netbooks came out on top with 18 per cent of Canadians over the age of 18 saying they were going to buy one. Smartphones were the next most popular item at almost 16 per cent, while desktop computers received an 8 per cent respone and tablets 7.6 per cent.
About 64 per cent of Canadians plan to buy none of those items over the holiday season.
Consumer buzz around tablet computers since Apple released its iPad looks like it might pay off over the holidays for retailers selling iPads. Although it is not the most popular choice, it is already tied with desktop computers, a tried and true computing method.
A ChangeWave survey shows iPads are by far the most popular tablet choice. When asked what they planned to buy over the next 90 days, nine per cent of Americans named the iPad versus just two percent for any other tablet device. More than one in five thought it was a “must have” gift that kids were asking for.
When it comes to actually doing the shopping, Canadians plan to buy differently depending on the device. Buying electronics in a store is still more popular overall than buying online, but about one-third of Canadians who said they would be buying a laptop or tablet say they will make the purchase on the Internet.
Related Story: More holiday shoppers shunning malls
About one in five Canadians buying a desktop computer will buy it online, and 17 per cent buying smartphones will buy those devices online.
What’s interesting here is that it seems bulk, or shipping cost, isn’t affecting the decision to purchase online. While desktop computers are the bulkier item, they are still more popular to buy online than smartphones, which would be the easiest to ship. The tendency to buy a tablet online may have something to do with the item’s relative scarcity in stores.
This AskingCanadians poll of 1100 respondents was conducted for ITBusiness.ca. The data was collected from December 3rd to December 5th. AskingCanadians is an online survey community with a panel of more than160,000 members across Canada. Joining the AskingCanadians panel is free to Canadians who are in the age of majority in the provinces they reside, or have the permission of their parents or legal guardian. Qu’en pensez-vous is the sister community in Quebec.  AskingCanadians is owned and operated by Delvinia Data Collection for more information go to http://www.delvinia.com/askingcanadians.
