By Cheryl Lim

MORE well-to-do Singaporeans snapped up laptops and smartphones last year during the recession, which started last October in Singapore, than in the previous year when the economy was doing well, a recent survey found.

The proportion of respondents who owned a laptop stood at 61.6 per cent in June this year, an increase of 10.4 percentage points compared to June last year.

Similarly, 76.2 per cent said that they owned mobile phones that had a built-in camera and the ability to link to the Internet this year, a jump of 11.2 percentage points from last year.

The growth rates for both types of products more than doubled this year compared to rates from the previous year, when the economy was red-hot.

The proportion of people who owned a laptop had grown by only 4.3 percentage points between June 2007 and June last year. In the same period, the number of people who owned camera phones had inched up by just 0.6 percentage point.

This year's survey by Britain- based research company Synovate, in its 13th year, polled 1,671 Singaporeans, whose monthly household incomes put them among the top 30th percentile of earners here, on their spending habits.

This means their household income exceeds US$6,556 (S$9,120) a month.

Synovate's Hong Kong-based executive director, Mr Steve Garton, said that people who make up the top 30 per cent of earners are more "recession-resistant".

He added: "In fact, the higher the income, the more recession- resistant a person is."

Mr Garton cited other factors that contributed to the rise in ownership of desirable tech goods in the past year.

"The prices of laptops and smartphones have also come down compared to before, making them more affordable. Peer pressure is also a factor in buying these things," he said.

Gadget lover Andrew Xu, 26, who bought an iPhone in the middle of last year, said: "I simply had to lay my hands on it.

Tech products are one-off purchases and not really expensive.

What the numbers say

Ownership of laptop computers

61.6 per cent this year, up 10.4 percentage points from 50.6 per cent last year.

Ownership of mobile phones with camera and Internet capabilities

76.2 per cent this year, up by 11.2 percentage points from 65 per cent last year.

Ownership of smartphones, such as personal digital assistants

14.7 per cent this year, up by 5.6 percentage points from 9.1 per cent last year.

Ownership of LCD or plasma television set

57 per cent this year, up by 14 percentage points from 43 per cent last year.

Ownership of stocks, bonds and securities

31 per cent this year, up by 5 percentage points from 26 per cent last year.

Ownership of credit and charge cards

84 per cent this year, up by 9.4 percentage points from 74.6 per cent last year.

cheryll@sph.com.sg

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