With his retirement account devastated by the plunging stock market, Henry Vicenteno is feeling poor  poor enough to play the Grinch this holiday season.

Mr. Vicenteno, 31, an aircraft mechanic in Cleveland, said his 9-year-old son had asked for a copy of Skate, a skateboarding video game by Electronic Arts. “I told him I’d buy it for him, but really I’m just going to Blockbuster to rent it,” Mr. Vicenteno said. “Before, I would have bought it, no problem. But it’s like $50, and we can’t be spending that kind of money.”

With consumers increasingly worried about a severe economic recession, Mr. Vicenteno is hardly the only person keeping his wallet shut.

A growing body of statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests that demand for televisions, computers, cameras and other electronics is falling sharply  portending extra discounts for customers in coming months but a very unhappy holiday season for retailers, electronics makers and component suppliers.