Basic calculators are the second most popular item, followed by headphones in third with scientific calculators in fourth place.
According to the Consumer Technology Association's ‘The Role of Consumer Tech in Back-to-School Shopping' study, devices from portable hard disks to laptops are moving further up the average family's shopping list.
In all, 59% of parents hitting physical or online stores to equip their children for the first term of the new school year are looking for technology devices and assorted accessories -- a 12 percentage point rise on last year's figures, while the overall spend is also up by 6.2%.
"Early back-to-school promotions are building interest and momentum for the second-largest shopping event of the year," said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research, CTA. "Deals on the tech items for back-to-school including 2-1 laptops, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, tablets and more are creating excitement among consumers. This consumer enthusiasm also bodes well for tech sales across the second half of the year."
However, though companies are at pains to promote laptops, tablets and 2-in-1 devices (notebooks that convert into Windows 10-powered tablets), the number-one item on the average shopping list is portable memory. Cited by 71% of shoppers, items like SD and MicroSD Cards, Compact flash and USB thumb drives are the most sought after accessories. In comparison a dedicated external hard drive for backing up files or expanding a computer's disk space is the eighth most popular device among back-to-school shoppers (23%).
Basic calculators are the second most popular item, followed by headphones in third (59%) with scientific calculators in fourth place.
Laptops are way down in sixth place (44%) and tablets in ninth (22%). Smartphones don't even make the top 10. However protective carrying cases, be they for computers, tablets or smartphones, are in fifth place (48%).
The list in full
1. Portable memory
2. Basic calculator
3. Headphones
4. Scientific/graphing calculator
5. Carrying or protective case
6. Laptop
7. Computer software
8. External hard drive
9. Tablet
10. Product subscription service
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