Consumers will focus their Christmas spending on technologies that will support their personal ecosystems of connectivity.
This is according to Marco van Niekerk, CEO of computer and technology retailer Incredible Connection.
"The days of buying standalone devices that each perform a different and independent function are over," says Van Niekerk. "Consumers run complex technology system sets or ecosystems that communicate and support each other. It is all about being connected and having access to information."
A recent survey by online retailer Kalahari.com revealed that 92.4% of their respondents will do their festive season shopping online this year - an increase of nearly 5% over 2011.
Kalahari.com notes that 17.9% of consumers are planning to use their iPads for online shopping this festive season, while the majority will opt for laptops (59.2%) and desktop PCs (49%).
It also notes that 40.8% of connected shoppers have already started their festive season shopping, with 33.6% only planning to fill festive stockings during the first and second weeks of December.
Tablets are predicted to be the biggest sellers this festive season (35.7%), followed by media items such as books, CDs, DVDs and games, it adds.
Van Niekerk explains that communicating with family or friends is now as easy as switching on a television set.
"With the emergence of smart TV, we saw a migration of consumers understanding and wanting home networks that include access and sharing between and through multiple devices. They want to communicate via voice calls or e-mails and they now use mobile devices, personal computers and even television.
"Movies are, for example, now rented or bought and downloaded directly from the Net and viewed on any mobile device or smart TV. Private libraries are now stored virtually in the cloud and accessed by authorised devices from anywhere in the world, creating a very fluid, comfortable and safe environment."
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