Port Washington, N.Y. – The consumer electronics holiday selling season got off to a hot start on this year with almost every category showing double digit gains, according to NPD Techworld.
NPD compared sales on Nov. 23, or Black Friday, to what took place in 2000 and found DVD players, home theater in a box and color televisions simply screaming out of stores. DVD player sales were up 53 percent with home theater selling increasing 173 percent and color TV sales jumping 23 percent.
‘The products that are selling well are those that are fulfilling immediate needs for entertainment and information,’ said Tom Edwards, senior analyst for NPD Techworld. Very high and low end products did not fair as well, he added, as people are deferring those purchases for a later date.
Also posting impressive gains this year were wireless phones, up 29 percent, car audio equipment, home audio speakers and personal video recorders.
Computer product sales got off to a rocky start this year with digital cameras and handheld PCs showing a hefty improvement with sales going up 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively. PC and notebook sales were each down about 10 percent on Black Friday, although notebook sales for the following week were up compared to 2000, according to other NPD data. Displays also sold well that day, but Steve Baker, director of IR research at NDP Techworld said LCD monitors accounted for much of that growth.
‘When examining specific product groupings, it is apparent that every winning category had a close relative that was a loser during Black Friday,’ he said.
