• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, December 22, 2016

There’s plenty of shopping for personal smart devices this holiday season but many of the actual gifts will be going to their buyers.

Holiday shopping started quite early this year, with slightly more than half (51%) of Americans having started by Oct. 28, according to the latest Mobile Insights Holiday Shopping Report by Nielsen.

More than half (56%) of consumers had their eyes on consumer electronics and those include smartphones, tablets and smartwatches.

Of mobile subscribers, 14% planned to purchase a phone or tablet and 10% plan to purchase a smartwatch.

However, not all those purchases will be placed under the tree for others.

In its survey of more than 30,000 mobile subscribers 13 years or older, Nielsen found that almost three-fourths (72%) of consumers who intend to purchase a mobile phone will be buying it for themselves.

Smartwatch purchases are in the same boat. Here’s who will be getting the smartwatch purchased this holiday season:

• 63% -- Myself
• 31% -- Spouse or significant other
• 15% -- Children
• 12% -- Parents
• 6% -- Family relative

Other tech purchases planned are across the board, led by wireless headphones. Here’s the purchase intent by product category:

• 13% -- Wireless headphones
• 11% -- Fitness tracker
• 10% -- Wireless charging pad
• 8% -- Voice-enabled wireless speaker (Amazon Echo, etc.)
• 7% -- Virtual reality headset

The longer-term question is whether those who get a new connected device, such as a smartwatch, fitness tracker or virtual reality headset, will stick with them.