Recent ABS data revealed that almost half of Australians expect to keep working from home in 2021, and this has been supported by new data which shows consumers are still upgrading their home offices to prepare for the new normal.

Data from digital intelligence platform, Similarweb, analysed search terms and queries to find the most popular consumer electronics in the 28 days to June 18, 2021.

Noise cancelling headphones was the most-searched for home office technology product, increasing by 40% year-on-year during the 28-day period, followed by monitors (31%), monitor stands (25%), Wi-Fi extenders (25%) and laptops (5%).

Searches for Apple iPhone 11 and iPhone X experienced 12% and 14% growth, respectively, while searches for the Apple Watch decreased by 9%.

Similarweb regional vice president for Australia and New Zealand, Emmanuel Heymann said the most popular searches combined form a picture of Australians gearing up for permanent remote work.

“Wi-Fi extenders spread coverage in homes and noise cancelling headphones block out any background chatter, lawn mowers, and barking dogs,” he said.

“2020 can be summed up by three things: Covid-19, home offices, and home entertainment. Tax accountants will have their work cut out for them defining the boundary between office and entertainment, particularly with items like projectors and polaroid cameras increasing by 70% and 170% respectively.”

Home office aside, gaming consoles were the most popular electronic items in this year’s EOFY sales, led by the PlayStation 5 with more than 30,000 searches and the Xbox Series X with more than 13,000 searches. Together these consoles accounted for almost one-third (29%) of total traffic from the top 20 most popular products.

Both consoles launched in November 2020, but it is likely that supply scarcity could be driving demand, according to Heymann.

“Although both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have been available for more than six months, supply chain issues have made it incredibly difficult for Australians to get their hands on them – as soon as stock arrives, it’s snapped up immediately,” he said.

“Shoppers hoping for an EOFY bargain on these consoles should manage their expectations because even just finding one in stock would be a coup. This is particularly so with the PS5 as we saw an average of more than 1,000 unique search queries for these each day during the analysis.”