Consumer electronics spending is up for the holidays and will exceed last year according to a November survey of 2,812 U.S. consumers by the ChangeWave research group (http://www.changewave.com) -- and much of it is being driven by Apple, which is having the most explosive holiday season in its history.

Better than one-in-four respondents (26%) say they’ll spend more on consumer electronics over the next 90 days and only 29% say less. That's a big nine-point jump from last month and a net three-point improvement from November 2009.

The survey also found a big jump in planned laptop purchasing, with 10% saying they’ll buy a laptop in the next 90 days. That's two points better than last month and matching the highest level in a ChangeWave survey in three years.

The manufacturer most responsible for the surge in laptop demand is Apple, with 36% of planned laptops buyers saying they’ll purchase a Mac. That's an 11-point jump since ChangeWave's previous survey last month. It's it’s the highest level of planned laptop buying ever for Apple in a ChangeWave survey.

What’s causing such laptop momentum? According to ChangeWave, odds are it’s Apple’s Oct. 20 release of their refreshed MacBook Air line, featuring a slimmer design, multi-touch glass touchpads and solid state flash memory.

In terms of "must have" gifts for kids, Apple leads once again with three of the top five gifts for the holiday season – the iPad (22%), the iPod/ iPod touch (9%) and the iPhone (6%). Nintendo's Wii and DS (7%) and Microsoft's Xbox/ Kinect (6%) round out the top five.

While the overall consumer electronics uptick is positive for home entertainment retailers generally, none is benefiting more than Apple. ChangeWave says it's up over a year ago with regards to where consumers say they’ll be shopping for their home entertainment products.

The ChangeWave survey was completed November 8, 2010, and includes holiday spending trends for a variety of other retailers including Best Buy, Amazon, Costco, and Wal-mart, among others.