Firms say that consumers want iPads, MacBooks for the holidays

According to the latest ChangeWave survey on consumer electronics spending, people plan to spend more during this year's holiday shopping season than the past couple years. That increased spending will be particularly focused on computers and mobile gadgets, with one of the biggest beneficiaries being Apple. With demand for its notebooks and iPads at an all-time high, the company is predicted to have a "monster" holiday season this year.

Demand is strong for new laptops, with 10 percent of those surveyed planning to buy a new one in the next three months. That's up slightly from last month, and more than a third of those shopping for a laptop—36 percent—plan to buy one made by Apple.

"Simply put, it’s the highest level of planned laptop buying ever for Apple in a ChangeWave survey," ChangeWave vice president of research Paul Carton said in statement. He believes the latest MacBook Air models have ignited consumer interest with the slim designs and fast SSD drives. The demand for new Apple notebooks comes at the detriment of rivals Dell and HP, which have seen softening demand for their portables.

While iPod sales have steadily decreased thanks to market saturation, Apple's iPad is still doing quite well. Nine percent of those surveyed plan to buy an iPad for themselves or for someone else as a gift. That jibes with figures released by research firm NPD, which says that about 11 percent of consumers are likely to purchase an iPad by February of next year.

iPad purchases may be fueled by a somewhat unexpected demographic: kids. ChangeWave reports that the iPad is far and away the most requested gift by kids this holiday season, with more asking for an iPad than iPhones, Nintendo systems, and Xboxes combined. A recent Nielsen survey also put the iPad at the top of wish lists for kids aged 6-12, beating a new computer, iPod touch, and various game consoles. Older teens ranked it the number four favorite, just behind a computer, an HDTV, and an Android smartphone.

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