Electronics retailers predict hot iPod sales for Christmas

I posted our prediction on Friday that Apple would sell 20 million iPods this Christmas. Some might be skeptical about such a prediction with new products such as the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii being launched this week. Well, here's some data that should erase a bit of that skepticism: Channel Checkers' survey of electronics retailers reports that among electronics retailers in the US and Western Europe, the iPod was the product most cited as being the product they expect to be hottest this holiday season. Twenty-eight percent of respondents cited the iPod overall and the iPod nano specifically as being the hottest product. Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii tied for second place with 20% of mentions each. Microsoft XBox 360 came in a 15% of mentions. Interestingly, Microsoft's Zune didn't seem to be on anyone's radar. Hmmm.

I don't know what Channel Checker's sample size was or how it was selected, but given what I've seen of the Black Friday ads, iPods do seem to be just as hot this Christmas as they were last. And the Consumer Electronics Association's predictions for Christmas show MP3 players (of which iPods comprise 80% of units) topping both the adult and teenager wish lists, and ranking #3 on gift giver lists after digital cameras and cell phones.

So here's the question for readers: what do you think? I've asked the same question that Channel Checkers asked below. I won't try to define hottest product, since as far as I know, Channel Checkers didn't either. I apologize that there aren't more than five choices, but that's all the polling widget can handle. But if you think I've missed the boat entirely, please leave your suggestion in the comments, and if there are enough votes for another product, I'll do another poll.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Consumer Electronics, Hot products, iPod, Marketing, Nintendo, Playstation 3, Poll, Retail, Wii, XBox 360, Zune