As purchase factors, interoperability and brand exclusivity loom large for Apple owners. Two-in-three (65 percent) say compatibility with devices they already own is an important purchase factor when shopping for electronics and, as one might expect, brand homogeneity is key as well. Nearly half (45 percent) of Apple owners say buying technology brands they already own is important when considering a purchase compared to just 36 percent of non-Apple households who say buying a brand they already own at home is important. Owners of specific Apple product categories exhibit an even greater disparity with non-owners. iPad owners tend to own more Apple devices (3.7) than average and place more importance on brand exclusiveness as a purchase factor than non-Apple tablet owners (44 percent compared to 20 percent).
As Apple sells more devices into the homes of existing owners and into new ones, I expect this notion of brand allegiance to strengthen. By all accounts, the owners of Macs and assorted i-Devices are accumulating a staggering amount of content within Apple’s platforms (it was reported during the earnings call that iTunes sales grew 35 percent year over year). As these consumers consider additional electronics purchases, seamless access to the content they already own is likely to factor in to the hardware purchase decision more heavily. Apple’s hardware is what garners all the attention but it is their brand equity and platform strength that create a built-in competitive advantage over other hardware manufacturers.

Beyond the Super Bowl, hopes are the appetite for larger screens will continue to expand, and there’s no indication it won’t. Increased affordability along with new features like connectivity mean consumers today are getting more for their TV dollar than they did just a few years ago. With availability continuing to grow, the Super Bowl induced buzz around very large screens is likely to continue, reinvigorating the American love affair with the large screen TV.

Consumer usage of the devices in the vehicle is interesting for a couple reasons. First, they’re largely used in addition to traditional audio devices, not in replacement. Seventy three percent of drivers report still using their FM radio “always” or “most of the time” during car trips while more than half (57 percent) of vehicle owners say a CD player is vital in their decision to buy a car stereo or entertainment system.

Second, the vehicle is likely the next place we will see consumption habits evolve. Nearly four-in-ten (38 percent) smartphone owners have accessed Pandora or some other music streaming service on their phone while in a vehicle, an indication that connected content is gaining traction in the car. As consumers move from physical media towards digital and streamed content in environments like the home, increased access to mobile broadband is likely to fuel a similar transition in the vehicle. With most portable media devices having 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi connectivity, many consumers use their devices as a gateway to streaming audio and video services and other apps.

We’re likely to see more consumers integrating their devices in the car, especially through the in-dash stereo system. Despite just 13 percent of vehicle owners having Bluetooth or wireless phone connectivity currently built in to their cars, 42 percent of all in-dash players sold in 2011 were Bluetooth equipped, according to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service. Auto manufacturers too have introduced a variety of connected car products, from Chevy’s MyLink to the Ford Sync which make content and services stored on portable digital devices more accessible at the dash. Adoption of these whole car solutions, however, will take some time as they become more available and affordable.

In the meantime, as devices and ways to connect them proliferate in the car, the focus will understandably turn to ways to safely control them with minimal driver distraction. Alternative interfaces like Apple’s Siri (found in many of the whole connected car solutions) or the motion control technology used in the Microsoft Kinect could become a necessity for consumers who desire full access to the media and apps on their portable devices. This is likely the next frontier for connected devices in the car—weighing the unprecedented access to content they allow against their potential to divert driver attention.

Surprisingly, NBC will not be broadcasting the Super Bowl in 3D, one of the few large sporting events of late that will be viewed in just two dimensions. Whether this hinders 3DTV sales this year prior to the game remains to be seen, but at first glance, it appears to be a lost opportunity for TV manufacturers and content providers who have invested substantially in the technology. Along with movies and video games, many consumers want to watch sports in 3D. The NPD Group’s 3D 360 Monitor Wave 5 study reports 60 percent of sports fans are interested in watching 3D sporting events with professional football the sport consumers most want to experience.

Despite robust sales (NPD’s Retail Tracking Service shows nearly 2 million native 3D sets were sold in 2011) consumer interest in 3D remains fragile and objections to increased set costs and wearing 3D glasses lead the list of reasons not to buy. A significant third obstacle to adoption, however, is the availability of enough content to justify the investment. That the highest profile sporting event of the year will not be broadcast in 3D is a blow in that respect. Whether or not millions of viewers planned to watch the Super Bowl in 3D is debatable, but it’s safe to say many assumed it would be.

Leading up to the show, ultrabooks were by far the biggest story (eclipsing the buzz on tablets in my opinion) and PC makers like Acer and Toshiba had offerings ready to display. Vizio’s surprising announcement they would be offering a line of PCs (both thin and light ultrabook style notebooks and all-in-ones) could be interesting if they use a pricing strategy similar to their approach for TVs. Vizio’s PCs are nicely designed, and with the fervor at CES around ultrabooks their announcement is well timed. (My colleague, Stephen Baker takes a further look at Vizio’s move into the PC world.)

The company formerly known as Monster Cable (now just Monster) hosted a lively press conference today, however, new headphones wasn’t the biggest news. While they did announce six new lines of headphones, their Green Power Bar and Power Center, products designed for energy monitoring and control, showed they’re looking beyond audio and cables. It remains to be seen if this will be a real opportunity for Monster though– the home energy and control market is becoming crowded with more consumer friendly lower-priced options.

Lenovo’s new Android powered TV looks, at first, like a big all-in-one PC. With a built in webcam featuring facial recognition and a game pad style remote, it’s an intriguing interpretation of connected TV. The set runs Android 4.0 ICS so I would expect some incorporation of other Android devices like smartphones and tablets. It’s not yet clear if the 55” displays will have access to the Android Marketplace, but this seems like a move away from the fragmentation that has defined connected TV platforms thus far.

As we look for industry bright spots after a gloomy 2011, headphones, especially premium models (priced above $100) certainly stand out. Beyond increases in sales or share, the story this year has been their growing appeal among young consumers.

While still fairly small, the market share in units of premium headphones has doubled this year to 6 percent, equaling more than $342 million in sales (through November 2011) according to The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. Driving much of this growth are buyers under the age of 24 who accounted for a quarter of all $100+ headphone purchases in 2011, up from 13 percent in 2010. The shift is noteworthy for a couple reasons. First, young people tend to be less affluent than older consumers. Getting them to spend $100 or more on a pair of headphones when much cheaper alternatives exist is no small feat.

Second, and most importantly, premium headphones introduce these younger consumers to better sound quality, something the audio industry has been trying to do for a long time. Somewhere in the emergence of the MP3 player, digital content, and earbuds, consumers lost an appreciation for audio quality. Sounding “good enough” has sufficed. Combining the cool factor with superior sound has so far been effective in turning on young listeners.

Breaking Through the Walled Garden. According to NPD’s Retail Tracking Service, sales of connected TVs have grown 61 percent compared to 2010 (through the month of November) making connected TV a big story in 2011. As I perused the hundred or so connected TVs at last year’s CES, however, I began to question how all these platforms would work with other products. Many stream content from ubiquitous services like Netflix and Pandora, but others offer downloads of video content and apps. Making the TV a hub for different types of content certainly makes sense, but how that downloaded content interacts with other devices (and other brands of devices) is less apparent. Is content purchased on one product viewable on another? Consumers are moving towards more portable and pocketable CE devices with the expectation that much of the content they own (particularly music and video) can go with them. As I walk the show floor again this year, I’ll be looking to see if the next iterations of connected TVs will fit in better with other devices consumers own.

The Year of Living Digitally. I’ll echo some of my colleagues in identifying digital health as one of the bigger stories at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. While CES has featured companies in this space in prior years, 2011 has definitely seemed like the year traditional CE companies took this category seriously. With the focus in the news on health and healthcare, an aging boomer population, and advances in sensors and connectivity, the market conditions seem right for both manufacturers and application developers to introduce some interesting products. Heart rate monitors, sleep monitors, and fitness products have broad appeal, but smartphones and tablets have the potential to add to the functionality and connectivity of these existing health devices.

A Focus on Voice and Motion Controls. With the success of the Microsoft Kinect and Apple’s Siri, new ways to interface with CE devices have suddenly become top of mind. Gaming seems like a no-brainer for these technologies, but I wonder if motion control could be incorporated effectively into more products—for instance home appliances, lighting, or climate controls. From an accessibility standpoint, voice and motion control could also help disabled consumers use a wider range of products. I expect several companies to exhibit products using some of these new interface methods in an effort to differentiate themselves.

As it turns out, a significant amount of TV accessory spending is unplanned. According to the study, nearly a third of purchases made at the point-of-sale with the television aren’t decided upon until the consumer is in the store. While many shoppers turn to online research, social media referrals, and “you might also like” product suggestions in the pre-purchase period, there are still consumers for whom the buying process isn’t completely mapped out prior to entering the store. Even on Black Friday, we observed a similar level of preparedness with nearly one-in-three technology purchasers saying they did not perform any pre-purchase deals researched ahead of their shopping trip, according to NPD’s Anatomy of Black Friday Study.

Like undecided voters during an election year, shoppers who have yet to settle on TV accessories at the time of purchase can provide a selling opportunity, one which retailers are best prepared to activate at the point-of-sale. With accessories a lost opportunity is rarely found again as once shoppers leave with their TVs, just 38 percent return to the same retailer to purchase accessories. With higher-ticket items like extended warranties and Blu-ray players the most common unplanned purchase add-ons, there is a substantial amount of dollars at stake in converting these shoppers.

Though price is always a factor in capturing a sale, unplanned accessory buyers most value input from sales associates in helping them decide what to buy. Preparing store personnel on their role in retaining and converting unplanned purchases can help more fully exploit these opportunities for point of sale retailers.

In thinking about the deals available on Cyber Monday, it’s also worthwhile to consider some of the offers beyond product discounts. One-in-five tech purchasers indicated Cyber Monday deals were “too good to pass up”, so it got me thinking…how much of a difference do offers such as free shipping, discounted extended warranties, or lengthened product return windows really make?. These add-ons can erode retailer bottom lines, and some, like free shipping, have virtually become expected by shoppers. It’s a given we’ll continue to see these types of services (and possibly more) throughout the holiday shopping season, but are they here to stay –or more importantly, will consumers give them up even if they don’t see them as a value?

Doorbusters didn’t disappoint those waiting in line. Doorbusters remained popular among all shoppers and purchasers of technology in particular. More than one-in-three (36 percent) Black Friday tech purchasers bought a Doorbuster item– an increase of four percentage points compared to 2010. The deep discounts across the board for CE products we observed (many of the TVs, Blu-ray players, and laptops I saw in were discounted 30 percent or more) could be a contributing factor to the rise, as some shoppers may have broadened their definition of a Doorbuster based on the level of the discount.

Consumers may be concentrating more of their holiday technology shopping into Black Friday. On average, technology purchasers completed a third of their total shopping obligations on Black Friday, a pretty significant amount. As my colleague Stephen Baker pointed out, factors such as the weak economy and deep discounts for a multitude of products (even outside of tech) may have prompted shoppers to take more advantage of all the savings available to them. Black Friday shoppers, overall, completed around 24 percent of their total shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

Mobile is the next frontier for Black Friday sales research. As expected, technology purchasers favored online sources for information on sales and Black Friday Doorbuster deals leading up to the event with 59 percent indicating this. While more traditional means of research such as TV commercials (25 percent) and catalogs (16 percent) also registered, I fully expect mobile apps (used by just 3 percent of purchasers this year) to gain more traction as smartphone adoption increases. Prior to my outing Thursday evening, I used a few retailer apps (most notably apps from Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy) to find store hours, locations, and product pricing. Another tool that was truly valuable was Twitter which enabled me to search tweets referencing “Black Friday Deals” for real-time updates on sales and stock levels. A search of local tweets in my area was also great for gauging how long lines were at the stores.