Will the 2013 holiday shopping season turn out to be an unprecedented bonanza for Apple’s product sales? During Apple’s recent fiscal fourth quarter earnings call, CEO Tim Cook predicted that, “It’s going to be an iPad Christmas.” However, newly released data from market researchfirm Parks Associates suggests that iPads will not be the only Apple product that will make an appearance under people’s Christmas trees this year.

According to Parks Associates’ research, Apple is currently dominating seven key categories of planned holiday purchases in consumer electronics. Apple is the top consumer electronics brand of choice for shoppers that are intending to buy a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone, home networking router, MP3 player, and streaming media device this year, reports Parks Associates.

“Apple topped the list of intended brands for desktop purchases for the first time this year,” wrote Parks Associates Consumer Analytics director John Barrett. “In 2011 and 2012, Dell was the top desktop brand, but Apple has displaced it, making Apple now the most popular brand across even more key CE [consumer electronics] categories.”

HP ranked third after Dell in desktops, while Acer and Asus ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Not surprisingly, Apple also dominated as the No. 1 consumer choice for tablets. According to the latest data from market research firm IDC, Apple maintained its position as the top tablet vendor in the world during the third quarter with a 29.6 percent share of the market. Parks Associates also found that Amazon was the second most popular brand after Apple, followed by Samsung, Microsoft, and Acer.

The Cupertino-based company’s Apple TV product also topped the list of intended brands for streaming media devices. Roku had the second highest ranking, followed by Buffalo, D-Link, and Netgear. However, Barrett cautioned that consumer intent does not always translate into actual sales.

“Being the ‘preferred’ brand is certainly an advantage, but consumers can still change their minds,” noted Barrett. “For example, with streaming media players, Apple is the preferred brand, but many shoppers ultimately end up getting a Roku. Last year, among younger (18-34) shoppers for this device, 34 percent planned to buy an Apple, and 15 percent planned to buy a Roku. In a later survey of actual purchases, we found 24 percent bought an Apple TV and 29 percent bought a Roku player.” Parks Associates research is based on a nationwide survey of 2,500 broadband households in the U.S. conducted during the fourth quarter of 2013. Here’s how Apple has traded over the past five sessions.

From the article, "Apple Dominates Consumer Electronics Shoppers’ Wish Lists" by Nathanael Arnold.

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