News
This holiday season, 60 percent of U.S. consumers intend to cut spending in at least one area of communications and media entertainment – ranging from purchases of PCs to premium TV channel subscriptions and landline phone service – according to a new survey from Oliver Wyman.
Only about 21 percent of the survey respondents planned to increase spending in at least one area of communications and media entertainment.
But while sales of desktop and notebook computers, music players and digital cameras are expected to decline, sales of next-generation devices are expected to increase – Blu-ray players by 140 percent, smartphones by 9 percent and HDTVs by 3 percent.
As for subscriptions to Internet, wireless, pay-TV and content (such as Netflix) services, 63 percent of respondents expected their spending on these services to be about the same next year as they were this year, and 9 percent plan to spend even more. Only 28 percent plan to spend less.
But a 5 percent sales decrease is still predicted in the subscription category, according to the survey, with premium TV channels being the most vulnerable – 22 percent of current subscribers said that they were somewhat likely to discontinue premium channels in favor of standard pay-TV. Similarly, more consumers are skipping trips out to the movies in favor of watching them via pay-TV. Also, landline subscriptions are expected to decline next year.
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