Port Washington, N.Y. — Retail sales of CE products grew for a second consecutive month in June, with revenue rising 3 percent to $6.6 billion, The NPD Group reported.
The gain followed a 7 percent year-over-year spike in dollar sales in May, the market research firm said.
Flat-panel TVs and PCs largely drove the June increase, posting double-digit unit and dollar growth. Each category brought more than $1 billion into retail coffers, NPD said.
“The consumer technology industry, as it always has, is marching to the beat of a different economic drummer,” said Stephen Baker, NPD’s industry analysis VP. “Two months of solid growth in troubling economic times is great news for the electronics industry. With products typically priced at $800 or more, consumers are not making impulsive decisions to spend on technology when they get a little extra money. These are considered purchases.”
Baker cautioned that government stimulus checks likely contributed to the sales hike, and warned that “Temporary success should not obscure the need to deliver more exciting, compelling products as we head into the back half of the year, where a majority of the consumer technology sales occur.”
