“Some things just defy gravity. Sales of the Apple iPhone are as hot as ever, recession or not,” Ned Potter reports for ABC News. “A survey just out from the Pew Research Center shows that ‘Americans are paring down the list of familiar household appliances they say they can’t live without’ — so sharply that a microwave oven, labeled a necessity by 68 percent of those polled back in 2006, has now dropped to 47 percent. Air conditioners (down by 16 percentage points) and dryers (down 17) took a hit, too.”
Potter reports, “But look at this list of things that are holding their own:”
• The iPhone
• Designer jeans
• Wal-Mart and Costco
• McDonald’s
• Internet access
• High-definition TV sets
Potter reports, “At first, the list seems to make no sense. Sure, fast food and big-box discount stores would do better than four-star restaurants and pricey boutiques. And one can see how a night at home would seem a better bargain than a day at the mall. But why is the iPhone doing well, when it was widely seen as a geeky status symbol just a few years ago?”
Potter reports, “The difference, say market analysts, is that when the value of their nest eggs goes down, people look for value in what they buy.”
“Mark Donovan, a senior analyst with the market research firm comScore, Inc., said he’s known of people, particularly in the technology sector, who valued their iPhones more than ever after they lost their jobs — apparently seeing them as a way to stay connected and find that next job,” Potter reports.
Full article here.
