The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, increased by 4.1 points in July to reach 95.3, its highest level since the 2012 holiday season and peak for that year. And the CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, increased by 0.6 points from last month to reach 171.3 in July, the highest level so far in 2014.

“As CEA’s sentiment indexes have continued to show, consumer confidence is improving steadily following a weak first quarter,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA’s chief economist and senior director of research. “The improved sentiment is helping establish a solid foundation for stronger tech spending – especially with the growth of emerging technologies like wearables and Ultra HDTV – to materialise in the back half of 2014.”