A new report from The NPD Group, Kids & Consumer Electronics 6, examines the usage of CE devices among kids ages 4 to 14, and some of the data points from the survey related to gaming are particularly interesting. NPD found that 65% of U.S. households that have a child age 4 to 14 own a video game console system, and 44% of kids in this age group use a portable video game system, which represents an 8 percent increase since NPD first conducted the study in 2005.
The rise of the DS and PSP platforms have definitely had an effect. While televisions are the CE device most widely used by kids, portable video game systems is the top type of device that kids personally own, NPD said. And this has benefitted the accessories market too; of those that own a portable video game device, 50% also own earbuds/headphones as an accessory to use with their portable. Additionally, NPD found that more kids received a portable gaming device in used condition this past year than they did the year prior, which would seem to suggest used purchases from GameStop or perhaps sites like eBay.
NPD also noted that purchase intent for gaming systems in general remains high. The percent of households with kids ages 4-14 that intend to buy a console or portable system falls behind those that are intending to buy an HDTV or cell phone, but ahead of the other devices measured, including laptop computers and personal digital music players, NPD said.
"Kids ages 14 and under were the primary recipient of 37% of hardware unit sales for the 12-months ending March 2010. Kids represent a big market for the industry and the future purchase intent figures show that game systems are one of the top consumer electronic devices that households are planning to purchase in the next year," commented industry analyst Anita Frazier to IndustryGamers. "A higher percentage of households are also downloading content specifically intended for a child in this age group than they did last year which points to the digital evolution of the industry as well, and the fact that kids are engaged with this method of content acquisition."
