IBM poll: People buy electronic presents

A recent IBM survey suggests 55 percent of consumers plan to spend some portion of their holiday budget on consumer electronics.

The finding complements results from another IBM survey that indicated an expansion of after-sales service could become a competitive differentiator for consumer electronic manufacturers.

IBM said two-thirds of consumers buying electronic products said they seek multi-functionality from their devices.

That finding, said IBM, fuels the growing trend of convergence among electronics manufactures and continues the prospects for growth among service providers and manufacturers seeking to fill the information and multi-service opportunities.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International