SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Move over, peace and happiness. Computers are what Americans really want nowadays.
The machines that feed us infinite and instant information, store our digital memories, give us hours of fun with games, videos or music – and help us do our taxes – outrank peace, happiness and clothes this year as the most wished-for gifts, according to an annual U.S. survey by the consumer-electronics industry’s largest trade organization.
Last year, the most popular answer to the survey’s open-ended query about respondents’ holiday wishes was clothing, followed by peace and happiness, money and then computers.
Such enthusiasm for computers, TVs and other electronics will help drive electronics sales up 7 percent to $48.1 billion in the fourth quarter from $44.8 billion the year-ago period, according to a forecast by the Consumer Electronics Association.
