Smartphones, Tablets and Gaming Consoles Among the Most Popular Christmas Gifts: Germany

Key insights

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Market Overview

Consumer electronics were a popular Christmas gift category in Germany during 2015.

Approximately 8 million German internet users aged 14 and older planned to purchase consumer electronics as gifts. This represented 15% of that demographic.

Console Demand

Gaming consoles were a top priority for 23% of consumer electronics gift-givers in 2015.

Nearly one-quarter of those planning to buy consumer electronics considered a console purchase. This amounted to approximately 1.9 million potential buyers.

High Priority. Gaming consoles were a top priority for gift-givers, with 23% of those planning to buy consumer electronics intending to purchase a PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Wii U.

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Summary

Consumer electronics ranked among the most popular Christmas gifts in Germany in 2015, with gaming consoles emerging as a notable category. A December 2015 press release from the German Games Industry Association (BIU), drawing on a GfK survey, argues that the latest console generation is an ideal family gift, helped by strong holiday game releases and discounted console-and-game bundles.

According to the survey, about 15 percent of German internet users aged 14 and older, more than 8 million people, planned to give consumer electronics as Christmas gifts. Among those gift-givers, 34 percent intended to buy a tablet and 32 percent a smartphone. Gaming consoles followed closely: 23 percent, roughly 2 million people, were considering a PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Wii U. BIU Managing Director Maximilian Schenk pointed to titles such as Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4 as drivers of year-end console appeal.

Console demand had been building throughout the year. A separate GfK Consumer Panel survey commissioned by BIU found that by October 2015 about 800,000 Germans expressed active interest in buying a console, while another three million said they could imagine doing so.

Methodologically, the Christmas gift survey covered internet users aged 14 and older and is representative of 55 million people in Germany. The earlier console-interest survey covered Germans aged 10 and older and is representative of 67.7 million people. The BIU, whose 26 members represent over 85 percent of the German games market, has since become the association now known as game.