The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said this morning that its index of consumer technology expectations rose 9.3 point in December, lifting the index to an all-time high of 97.3 since the survey was started in January 2007. The index has gained 3.7 points year-over-year.

According to the CEA’s chief economist:

Technology products are the most wanted gifts this holiday season, and we’ve seen a tremendous amount of activity, with several new product launches over the past few months. Consumers are increasingly dedicating a significant portion of their overall gift budgets to electronics, which has crowded out other categories for holiday gift spending.

The CEA’s take on holiday spending on consumer electronics items is reinforced by other data from sources such as comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), which reported last week that sales of digital media are up 22%, video games, consoles, and accessories’ sales are up 15%, consumer electronics gear including smartphones are up 15%, and computer hardware sales are up 14% over last year.

The CEA’s measure of consumer confidence in the overall economy also rose in November, to 171.1, up 8.5 points from October, and up 0.4 points year-over-year. As with nearly every other measure of consumer confidence, the impact of the approaching fiscal cliff weighs heavily on consumer sentiment.

Paul Ausick

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