Consumer spending is in the dumps — up a measly +1.4% through the first eight months of 2010. But Americans always find a few bucks for Christmas presents. Nine out of the 10 most-wanted gifts are electronic gadgets such as iPhones and video games, according to the 2010 Duracell Holiday Wish List.
The Consumer Electronic Association expects spending on electronic doodads to jump by 5% this year to an average of $232 a person, but the CEA says that laptops and notebook computers are the No. 1 most-wanted gift this year. I agree.
Watch my video to learn the name of the Asian computer giant that just whizzed past Dell and is my No. 1 pick to profit from this year’s holiday shopping season.
Best wishes,
Tony
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Tony
You have a lot of good stuff but this one I have to disagree with. I too have children in a few age groups and a family that consume electronic equipment. As I see it there is no demand for an upgrade cycle. The Laptops today offer very little more than those bought 2 years ago. None of my kids are looking for a laptop and the only time they get new ones is when they break theirs and that ends up being a replacement buy and not a present. If you listen to every chip provider earnings call the past month they all say Notebook and Netbook demand for chips has decreased significantly with smartphones and tablets taking the lion share of the chip market growth.
Microsoft in their call stressed how there is a lack of consumer demand and their growth is based on business demand. “Klein said while consumer demand for computers was a bit weaker than expected during the quarter, business purchases made up for that, particularly since Microsoft sells its corporate versions of Windows for a higher price than the consumer ones.”
By the way, the last 3 laptops I bought were Acer’s so Im with you on that but they practically give them away these days and margins are shrinking. I havent looked at their financials but my guess is that they arent making it up in volume.
My kids can do almost 90% of what they did on their laptop on a smartphone they carry around with them 24/7. Apps, battery life and portability are making the tablet market much more attractive to my kids and their friends than a laptop.
I respectfully give you my “Two Cents” and hope you have a nice weekend
Bruce
Tony, just watched your Christmas shopping chat and your comment about Acer computers.
I believe you spoke about them nearly a year ago along with Lenovo. You are very astute and seems the US computer companies still do not understand there market…… Acer makes a few good quality units with the right features and listens to the customer feed back. They did the same years ago with there desktop units, which my company used for many years with very few problems.
You continue with good picks and following of industry trends.
When will US companies learn, look what Edward Demming did for Toyota when GM rebuffed his ideas in the 50/60 era, now No1 in the Auto world (and they are younger than GM and so is Acer compared to IBM, HP, Compaq, and others)
Tony,
Acer Computer (ACEIF) is extremely thinly traded averaging only 536 shares daily.even though there are 533 million shares outstanding. Why is the trading so light?
Thanks
Thank you for your wisdom. Much appreciated………..
Thanks for the note on Acer. No doubt they are going great guns. But if I go buy a PC from Dell, or HP, or any other American company, or an iMac, iPod, iPad, or iPhone from Apple, it’s also going to be made in China. In fact, it’s almost impossible to buy any consumer electronic product in the US that’s NOT made in China. American electronics manufacturers are mostly design and marketing fronts for stuff made in China. What gives Acer an advantage? Why should I buy Acer stock instead of Apple or Intel?