In what may be good news for Apple, Millward Brown IntelliQuest, a technology research firm, has released a study indicating that consumer purchasing of flat screen monitors, PDAs, and MP3 players are on the rise.
Approximately six million consumers plan to purchase such items within the next 12 months compared to the 3.7 million reported in the 2001 study. On the business side, wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and hardware such as laptop/notebook computers showed higher plan-to-purchase intent over the previous study, with 5.1 million people planning to purchase laptop/notebook computers in the next year.
On the down side, the study also showed that consumers are reluctant to purchase and/or replace their desktop computers/systems as evidenced by the 2002 data, which indicates 4 percent fewer consumers intend to buy desktops in the next 12 months when compared to intent to purchase levels in the 2001 data. Whether this is due to “putting off large expenditures or a lack of interest in the current offerings remains to be seen,” IntelliQuest surmises.
Even more disconcerting to computer makers, the study notes that technology influencers expect that 7.5 percent of their hardware expenditures will be for refurbished desktop/notebook computers. That’s double the percentage from last year.
However, it’s clear that home users are interested in faster connectivity to the Web. DSL and cable are on the rise by 6 percent and 3 percent respectively, while telephone (modem) connections are on the decline — dropping from 68 percent to 61 percent, the report says. And the number of influencers who access the Web frequently is on the rise — with half a million more home users accessing five or more times in the past week, IntelliQuest adds.