I was at the Microwarehouse sale early morning last Friday, where I fought tooth and nail for a Palm wireless keyboard (sale price: PhP 1,000).

And then I noticed something.

The vast majority of the people at the sale were women. Oh sure there were quite a few men, but… emphasis on few. The gender ratio was genuinely skewed here!

For the longest time, we have always assumed that electronic gadgets are men’s territory, and that, when we talk gizmos, only males will be interested. That’s partially true, but only to the point that men tend to gush about tech specs and tech trivia.

But when it comes to actually buying these darn tech toys, women are a huge market. Perhaps (gosh) even potentially bigger than the male market!

And they do buy pretty sophisticated stuff. They buy Sony Ericsson P910’s, O2 XDA II’s, smart phones, high-end cell phones, iPod minis and top of the line PDAs. While older women seem to be perfectly happy with mobile devices that are easy to use, easy to read, and basically look decent enough to carry around, it’s the younger women with high disposable incomes that is a burgeoning market. And they’re eager for top of the line mobile tech.

If you’re female and you’re reading this, this is old news to you. But it’s a bit of a revelation for guys like us who grew up with the stereotype that girls hate gadgets.