What Swedes want under the Christmas tree this year

Two out of three Swedes want technology-related presents this Christmas. The most popular technical gifts on the wish-list are an MP3 player, a DVD player and a mobile telephone. Most people in Sweden will spend between SEK 2,000 and SEK 3,000 for Christmas presents. These are some of the findings of a Telia survey that polled 10,500 people in Sweden.

Technical presents are the most popular Christmas gifts – 66 percent of the Swedes polled in the survey responded that they would prefer to have something in the way of electronics if they could choose their present. Sixty-nine percent of the male respondents said they wanted electronics and 62 percent of the women. Electronic Christmas gifts are extra popular in the north of Sweden, with 69 percent of the northern Swedes preferring some type of consumer electronics goods, compared with 63 percent of the people polled in Stockholm. When purchasing electronics, 13 percent responded they will buy a DVD player and 13 percent an MP3 player, followed by a mobile phone (10 percent), cordless phone (9 percent) and LCD flat screen television (4 percent). The Swedish Research Institute of Trade (HUI) recently predicted that the flat screen TV would be the “Christmas present of the year” in Sweden. “Today’s mobile handsets are multimedia terminals with a camera, MP3 player and gaming functions, which is certainly one of the reasons why mobile phones are so high up on the wish-list of many people,” says Indra Åsander, head of the Consumer Segment at TeliaSonera Sweden. “Last year’s Christmas sales hit an all-time high at Telia’s 75 retail stores in Sweden and at many other retail outlets. It seems like December 2004 will also be a very strong month for sales.” One out of five Swedes (22 percent), said they will spend between SEK 2,001 and SEK 3,000 on Christmas presents this year. Twenty percent will shop for SEK 1,001-2 000 and 17 percent for SEK 3,001-4,000. However, there are people who will spend much more. In Stockholm, 3 percent responded that they will buy Christmas gifts for more than SEK 10,000, which can be compared with 2 percent in Skåne, in the south, and in Norrland in the north. About the survey: Telia polled 10,500 people in Sweden about Christmas. All of Sweden is represented in the survey. The respondents were Telia customers. The survey period was November 25 to December 1, 2004.