Electronic items seemed to be the most popular gift given this holiday season. According to some tech experts, this year was a bit different in the sense that there was not one breakout gift when it comes to technology. Instead, there were several popular categories such as game consoles, tablets and tvs.
For many, Apple's iPad 2 was the hot item of the season. According to a nationwide survey by Nielson, 44% of children age 6 to 12 asked for an iPad from Santa. With hundreds of apps at your fingertips, user can do just about everything from web browsing, gaming, watching videos, Skyping, and reading books.
Apple has consistently corned the tablet market for more than a year with the iPad and this holiday season looked to be no different. That being said, there has been some recent competition in the tablet market with new devices like the Kindle Fire. The gadget also proved to be another popular gift. Amazon's highly anticipated, low cost tablet debuted earlier in November.
According to USA Today, the online retail giant sold millions of Kindle Fires this shopping season. This month, Amazon said it has been filling more than 1 million orders per week. The next generation of Amazon's e-reader allows user to read book and magazines and use a variety of apps.
Another hot item was the Keurig single cup coffee maker. Keuirgs have become a caffeine staple for many people offering a wide variety of coffee, tea and hot cocoa to brew with the touch of a button. A lot of people like them because of their convince and speed.
You can also make several different types of drinks, one right after the other with little hassle. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts even offer their coffee in k-cup singles. Many kids and the young at heart also received video gaming devices, including Kinect for XBOX 360. The console's Kinect technology reacts to user's motions without a controller.
During the week of Black Friday, Microsoft has its biggest sales week in XBOX history. According to USA TODAY, the company sold more than 960,000 consoles in the US. Shoppers also bought more than 750,000 Kinect motion sensors for the gaming device.
More than two years after its release, the Nintendo Wii continues to be a best seller and popular Christmas gift. The interactive gaming device has a variety of games from the newly released Just Dance 3 to Wii Sports, which is a mainstay for many users.
Another gift many received was a flat screen tv. Many major retailers offered deep discounts on tv's this holiday shopping season with some as much as 50% off. People in East Tennessee and across the country lined up on Black Friday waiting for those midnight door-buster deals.