Have you made up your holiday shopping list yet—and will tablet computers be on it? We surveyed consumers to find out which of several hot-ticket items they were planning to buy as gifts this year. And not surprising, many must-have gifts on Americans’ 2011 shopping list are electronics devices and gadgets.
We found that 17 percent of respondents planned to buy an Apple iPad as a gift this year—and 10 percent plan to purchase the newly released Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. The kids aren't left out of the tablet frenzy: The Leapfrog LeapPad, billed as a rugged learning tablet for children, is on 14 percent of our survey responders' lists. (Look for a CR story comparing kids' tablets from four different manufacturers, including the LeapPad, coming soon.)
We had some other digital toys on the list, too. Nine percent of our respondents plan to buy a Sesame Street Let’s Rock! Elmo (a singing, instrument-playing Elmo for preschoolers) as a gift, and 7 percent will be shopping for a Fisher-Price Sing-A-Ma-Jig--whimsical characters, aimed kids age 3 to 6, that move their mouths and sing.
As for smart phones, ten percent of survey respondents said they’ll be buying the new Apple iPhone 4S. And 3D TVs and Internet TVs each will appear on 7 percent of responders' lists.