LA Times
The number of items sold was up after Thanksgiving compared with last year, a report says. But customers grabbed bargains and ended up spending less on consumer electronics -- $2.7 billion, down 1.2%.
Holiday shopper Thanety Bunseam was reluctant to buy anything big this year, but a few days ago the 57-year-old factory worker could be seen resting on the curb outside a Best Buy store with his quarry: a 52-inch LCD TV and a new Sony PS3 game console.
"I got it free with the TV," he said, pointing to the PS3. "They have the game with the TV, so now I buy."
Despite tough economic times, consumers like Bunseam are shelling out money this year for big-ticket electronics such as laptop deals and flat-panel televisions.
During the week of Black Friday, a critical period for beleaguered retailers, the number of computers sold rose a whopping 63% over the previous year while LCD TV sales were up 15%, market research firm NPD said Wednesday.
But there was a downside.
The main reason for the increased sales volume was deep discounts -- so much so that overall revenue for consumer electronics was lower than last year, NPD said.
Combined sales totaled $1.2 billion for Nov. 22 through Nov. 28. That was down 1.2% for the Black Friday week in 2008.
At least that was a smaller decline than last year. In 2008, spending was down 3.4% from 2007.
"This year retailers and manufacturers knew it wasn't going to be about increasing revenue," said NPD analyst Stephen Baker. "It needed to be about getting consumers excited to shop and moving those products out of the stores." Consumers were looking for bargains and computer deals.
He expects the spending pattern for electronics to continue through the holidays.
"The overall picture is better than last year," Baker said. "But don't expect to see any sales growth, in dollars, in the industry."
Laptop computer sales were certainly aided by slashed prices. The average price tag on a laptop last year for Black Friday was $638, according to NPD. This year it was $475. That's a decline of a little more than 25%.
But there was another factor.
Both Microsoft and Apple came out with updated operating systems for computers in the last few months.
This made getting new computers or laptops, often with a faster processors and more memory, especially attractive.
"If there was the right product and the right price, consumers were very willing to go out and buy," Baker said.
"There was not a reluctance to spend, there was a reluctance to spend too much."
Shoppers were well aware that they were in the driver's seat.
"This year everything was about value," said Hovik Pogosian, a salesman at the Best Buy store in Atwater Village.
"When shoppers came in, what they wanted to know was: 'What are the best notebook deals I can get?' "
Holiday shopper Thanety Bunseam was reluctant to buy anything big this year, but a few days ago the 57-year-old factory worker could be seen resting on the curb outside a Best Buy store with his quarry: a 52-inch LCD TV and a new Sony PS3 game console.
"I got it free with the TV," he said, pointing to the PS3. "They have the game with the TV, so now I buy."
Despite tough economic times, consumers like Bunseam are shelling out money this year for big-ticket electronics such as laptop deals and flat-panel televisions.
During the week of Black Friday, a critical period for beleaguered retailers, the number of computers sold rose a whopping 63% over the previous year while LCD TV sales were up 15%, market research firm NPD said Wednesday.
But there was a downside.
The main reason for the increased sales volume was deep discounts -- so much so that overall revenue for consumer electronics was lower than last year, NPD said.
Combined sales totaled $1.2 billion for Nov. 22 through Nov. 28. That was down 1.2% for the Black Friday week in 2008.
At least that was a smaller decline than last year. In 2008, spending was down 3.4% from 2007.
"This year retailers and manufacturers knew it wasn't going to be about increasing revenue," said NPD analyst Stephen Baker. "It needed to be about getting consumers excited to shop and moving those products out of the stores." Consumers were looking for bargains and computer deals.
He expects the spending pattern for electronics to continue through the holidays.
"The overall picture is better than last year," Baker said. "But don't expect to see any sales growth, in dollars, in the industry."
Laptop computer sales were certainly aided by slashed prices. The average price tag on a laptop last year for Black Friday was $638, according to NPD. This year it was $475. That's a decline of a little more than 25%.
But there was another factor.
Both Microsoft and Apple came out with updated operating systems for computers in the last few months.
This made getting new computers or laptops, often with a faster processors and more memory, especially attractive.
"If there was the right product and the right price, consumers were very willing to go out and buy," Baker said.
"There was not a reluctance to spend, there was a reluctance to spend too much."
Shoppers were well aware that they were in the driver's seat.
"This year everything was about value," said Hovik Pogosian, a salesman at the Best Buy store in Atwater Village.
"When shoppers came in, what they wanted to know was: 'What are the best notebook deals I can get?' "
