iPads once again the top holiday gadget among kids, study says
For the third year in a row, Apple's iPad is the gadget that American kids most wish for, a poll by Nielsen shows.
Kids in the U.S. sure do like Apple gear, says a new study.
According to a recent poll of children ages 6 to 12 in the U.S. by research firm Nielsen, Apple's tablet once again came in first as the most-wanted gadget this holiday season, followed closely by iPods and iPhones. Of those polled, 48 percent said they wanted an iPad.
This is actually the third year in a rowApple's tablet has topped the list. Since 2010, the gadget has beat out computers, and Apple's own iPod Touch. This year's list also includes Apple's iPad Mini, which tied for third place with the iPod Touch.
Of note, Nintendo's Wii U console -- which was just released this past weekend -- came in second place with 39 percent of those surveyed saying they wanted one. That's up big from the 11 percent of kids who last year said they wanted its predecessor, the Wii. Other runners-up were game consoles and portables like Microsoft's Kinect, and Nintendo's 3DS and DSi handhelds.
In addition to the 6-12 age group, Nielsen polled kids ages 13 and beyond, where the iPad also came in on top. Twenty-one percent of those surveyed in that group said they wanted the tablet, which is down 3 percentage points from last year's study. One obvious place where those sales could be going is competing tablets, the firm suggested.
"Reinforcing the notion that the tablet market is one to watch, non-Apple devices -- lead by Amazon's Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy offerings -- proved nearly as desirable as the iPad among teens and adults, while e-readers showed a slight decline in interest from 2011," the firm wrote in a note announcing the results.
Nielsen said it interviewed about 3,000 U.S. consumers ages 6 and up in October and November for the survey. The interviews with kids ages 6 to 12 "were conducted as paired interviews, with a parent accompanying the child for the entire duration of the survey."
Below is the full breakdown of interest in products by age group.
Ages 6-12:
Ages 13 plus:
Update, 1:35 p.m. PT: Added details about how many people were surveyed and when.