A new study by research firm NPD shows that the humble Bluetooth headset is this Christmas' LEAST desired bit of tech, much to the chagrin of Nathan Barleys across the land.
Flat-screen TVs and mobile phones are still up near the top of the tech popularity charts, but the desire to buy items such as audio speakers, desktop computers and SatNavs is falling.
Do I REALLY need?
NPD analyst Stephen Baker, makes sense of the findings, noting that "GPS may have some demand issues. If you are looking at necessity versus discretionary, that is a category that is not very well-penetrated, which is in its favor. But the negative part is people saying: 'Do I really need this'?"
Traditional home landline phones are also (unsurprisingly) unpopular this year, with Tim Herbert, an analyst at the Consumer Electronics Association, telling Reuters: "In the category of cordless phones and answering machines, in years past that was always a very hot category, but more and more people are moving toward a cell phone-only model of communication."
This Christmas, as the Credit Crunch continues to bite, "consumers are going to be more mindful of their budgets," according to Tim Herbert.
"It's a tough question to say morally whether it is right to spend on the holidays this year when they may be feeling economic strain, but historically, it's somewhat in our nature."
