Tech items are making the list this holiday season, with the Consumer Technology Association’s annual shoppers survey forecasting a record-breaking 78 percent of U.S. adults — nearly 199 million people — will purchase devices and related services this season. Streaming services, headphones and earbuds, mobile cases, smartphones and game consoles top the trade organization’s survey, the 2022 Hot Tech Holiday Preview. The seasonal projection marks a 4 percent increase over last year. The 78 percent of American shoppers who intend to purchase tech gifts in the coming months will spend an estimated $145 billion.

That’s a 5.9 percent decline from the amount spent in 2021 and something of a deflationary effect, due in part to retailers planning Q4 discounts to clear inventory and lure shoppers, according to HD Guru.

Of the projected spend, the major electronics hardware category is expected to top out at around $103.2 billion, a 9.2 percent decline over last year. Some of those funds are being reallocated to software and services, which will reach nearly $42 billion, a 3.5 percent increase, says CTA.

“The rising popularity of video streaming services as a holiday gift shows how diverse the tech we share has become in recent years,” CTA director of research Lesley Rohrbaugh says in the CTA 2022 Holiday Preview.

More than 200 music, video and gaming streaming services are on offer this season and about 192 million U.S. adults (75 percent) plan to purchase at least one, the report says.

The CTA study indicates consumers plan to spend an average of $560 each on tech products this season (the most since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic), up from the $541 per head projected last year.

“About 184 million U.S. adults plan to spend either more or about the same on gifts compared to last year at this time, while 71.4 million plan to spend less, with inflation the most common reason cited for the latter,” writes HD Guru, adding that “many consumer technology devices are actually seeing or going to see price declines this fourth quarter.”

“With their wallets strapped and emotions running high, customers during the 2022 holiday shopping season are looking for brands that can provide personalized, convenient solutions to make their lives easier and better. They are also not purely looking to buy a product — but to have an experience around the product,” writes Forbes, promising a holiday shopping season “unlike any other.”

The CTA says its annual consumer electronics show, CES 2023, January 5-8 in Las Vegas, “will likely be the largest in-person, audited business event to take place in the U.S. since early 2020,” with an exhibit footprint 40 percent larger than the 2022 show and an on-site attendance goal of 100,000.