New York — Sales of consumer electronics for the industry’s 100 largest retailers retrenched in 2008.
According to the annual TWICE Top 100 CE Retailers Report, total revenue rose 3 percent last year to $126.2 billion, compared with a 10 percent increase in 2007.
Still, the industry performed well given the economic upheavals of the fall, the liquidation and bankruptcies of Tweeter and Circuit City, and the maturing life cycles of former growth drivers like MP3, DVD and digital imaging. Against that backdrop, the 3 percent increase speaks to the tenacity of CE retailers, and consumers’ love affair with electronics.
Best Buy once again placed first in the rankings, with 6.4 percent growth, maintaining its lead over Wal-Mart at No. 2. Joining them in the Top Five is Apple, which leapfrogged to fourth place on a head of Mac- and iPhone-generated steam.
Broken out by channel, computer and gaming stores gained the most ground, up half a percentage point to more than 5 percent of all Top 100 sales. The increase was donated by the struggling office-supply channel, which fell by an equal amount to less than 3 percent of share.
Meanwhile, the big just kept getting bigger. The industry’s 10 largest CE retailers picked up just less than half a percentage point of share last year, giving them control over nearly 73 percent of total Top 100 volume.
The complete report, prepared with TWICE market research partner The Stevenson Company of Louisville, Ky..
