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The Summer 2012 Olympics are under a week away, and you know what that means: time for a survey! TechBargains.com, a division of Exponential Interactive (Exponential.com), is an aggregation website for CE promotions which conducted a survey to explore the impact the Olympics has on CE device sales.

Exponential Interactive is a global provider of advertising intelligence and digital media solutions, so their findings are vital to any company involved with CE, and the news is generally good.

The poll found that 16 percent of consumers plan to buy CE devices prior to the Olympic Games for the express purpose of watching the events. This number has risen from the 13 percent reported for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, marking a rise in the market. As 94 percent of consumers confirm they will watch the games on a TV this year overall, the reported rise is evidence of more consumers buying their own devices as opposed to watching the games in a bar, at a friend’s house, or another shared space.

This year, 9 percent reported plans to purchase a new TV for the games, although the age group for those 60 or older was least likely to make the investment in a new device. The group most likely to buy the new TV in accordance with the Olympics was that of respondents younger than 30 years of age.

A more surprising find was that half of respondents said they would watch the Olympics in 3D if they had the right equipment. The survey included questions surrounding 3DTV, an unprecedented inclusion of this year’s Olympics, and one which many are interested in.

Yung Trang, president and editor in chief of TechBargains.com, commented on the trend:

“The 2012 Summer London Olympics are introducing the 3DTV experience to sporting events, something that has yet to be done on such a large scale,” he said. “Not many people will actually be watching the events via a 3DTV.”

The reason? “Not because of a lack of interest,” but instead due to the fact that most viewers “don’t have access to the proper entertainment system.”

The technology involved in watching the Olympics this year has changed in other ways compared to the 2008 Beijing Olympics too. The number of tablet-viewership is set at 31 percent, with 27 percent of viewers planning to tune in via their smartphones. Additionally, 46 percent will watch on laptops and 39 on desktop computers – similar numbers to those reported four years previous.

Of the 1,330 respondents involved in TechBargain’s survey, 38 percent plan to watch the Olympics on their DVR system, in order to work around prior commitments. More than half of respondents have plans to watch broadcast highlights as well.

This confirms that the importance of the games to the everyday consumer has not waned since 2008, and most likely will continue strong into future Olympic Games, wherever they may be.

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