Women, not men, are the driving force in consumer technology

Melbourne: Men are being elbowed out of the way by women when it comes to consumer technology, a survey has revealed.

According to the study, women control 78 per cent of household spending, makes up almost half of the video game-playing population. What’s more, they are also responsible for buying or choosing most gadgets, from computers to televisions. Women also dominate the world of digital photography, with females between 25 and 40 taking more photos than any other group, according to the PMA Australian Consumer Digital Imaging Survey. PMA Australia director Peter Rose said: "It`s been known for some time that women aged 25 to 40 years -- and particularly mothers -- are the greatest picture-takers in the photo community. "Mum is often the person who carries the camera to social events and more often than not she is the person asked by Dad, `have you got the camera?` The number of photos taken has increased dramatically in the past four of five years, so now she`s even more busy." And companies producing cameras, such as Sanyo, are luring women with gadgets that have a feminine exterior. "Our pink still cameras in the past 12 months have outsold black cameras by a ratio of 3:1. Our pink video cameras have also outsold their black counterparts by 2:1," the Couriermail quoted Sanyo Asia director Bill Crichton, as saying. He added: "As a company, we are really focusing on the female market and we`re employing more females to get a greater understanding of what female consumers want. "The consumer technology industry has traditionally been very male-dominated, but it``s always had a high skew of female customers." Also, HP has come out with a second limited-edition netbook computer in the golden-hued HP Mini 210, aiming at women. ANI