This is the hottest Christmas gift for 2019 in Sweden
The item picked out as Sweden's 'Christmas present of the year' reflects a trend towards mindfulness around technology use.
Each year, retail organization HUI Research every year predicts what they think will be Sweden's most popular Christmas gift of the year (årets julklapp). The chosen item must be a product that represents the time we're living in and has received new interest that year.
This year the winner is a mobile phone box; literally a box to keep your smartphone in order to reduce screentime. It's a far cry from 1994, when the mobile phone itself was named the Christmas gift of the year.
"Swedes are reflecting more and more on the use of their phones, and are now increasingly trying to adjust their behavior accordingly. Already today, for example, there are apps to control screen time. The 'phone box' is a tool for the times of the day where you want to put away your phone to read a book, sleep or spend time with family instead," said HUI Research CEO Jonas Arnberg.
But what do people in Sweden really want for Christmas? A survey run by price comparison site Pricerunner and Kantar Sifo showed that the most wished-for gift was another product that could help with a digital detox, albeit in a more traditional way.
The most popular present among the 1000 people included in the survey was a book, and it was the 18-29 age group who most wanted reading material.
"At Christmas, we all seem to want a break from digital and social media," PriceRunner CEO Nicklas Storåkers said.
The Christmas gift of the year for 2018 also followed the trend towards sustainability and a return to basics, when the 'recycled garment' was picked as the best thing to unwrap on Christmas Eve (when gifts are traditionally opened in Sweden).
Vocabulary
Christmas present – (en) julklapp
recycled – återvunnen
box – (en) låda
screentime – skärmtid
behaviour – (ett) beteende
We're aiming to help our readers improve their Swedish by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find it useful? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know.
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Each year, retail organization HUI Research every year predicts what they think will be Sweden's most popular Christmas gift of the year (årets julklapp). The chosen item must be a product that represents the time we're living in and has received new interest that year.
This year the winner is a mobile phone box; literally a box to keep your smartphone in order to reduce screentime. It's a far cry from 1994, when the mobile phone itself was named the Christmas gift of the year.
"Swedes are reflecting more and more on the use of their phones, and are now increasingly trying to adjust their behavior accordingly. Already today, for example, there are apps to control screen time. The 'phone box' is a tool for the times of the day where you want to put away your phone to read a book, sleep or spend time with family instead," said HUI Research CEO Jonas Arnberg.
But what do people in Sweden really want for Christmas? A survey run by price comparison site Pricerunner and Kantar Sifo showed that the most wished-for gift was another product that could help with a digital detox, albeit in a more traditional way.
The most popular present among the 1000 people included in the survey was a book, and it was the 18-29 age group who most wanted reading material.
"At Christmas, we all seem to want a break from digital and social media," PriceRunner CEO Nicklas Storåkers said.
The Christmas gift of the year for 2018 also followed the trend towards sustainability and a return to basics, when the 'recycled garment' was picked as the best thing to unwrap on Christmas Eve (when gifts are traditionally opened in Sweden).
Christmas present – (en) julklapp
recycled – återvunnen
box – (en) låda
screentime – skärmtid
behaviour – (ett) beteende
We're aiming to help our readers improve their Swedish by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find it useful? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know.
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