Top 5 Items Accounted for 42% of Holiday Sales; LCD TVs Jump Over 100%: NPD
Consumer
technology retail sales from the week of Black Friday through the week
ending December 23, 2006, grew 6.5% to $8.75 billion, compared to the 10%
surge seen last year, according to NPD Group. The top five categories, led
by LCD TVs, accounted for nearly 42% of dollar volume.
LCD or plasma TV, digital camera, notebook computer, and MP3 player were the top sellers this year, accounting for 42% of overall volume, up from the 33% the top five categories represented in 2005.
| Category | Dollar Volume | Dollar
Share of Total |
Unit
Growth 2005 vs. 2006 |
Dollar
Growth 2005 vs. 2006 |
Average
Selling Price 2005 |
Average
Selling Price 2006 |
| LCD TVs | $924 million | 11% | 124% | 109% | $738 | $689 |
| Digital Still Cameras | $828 million | 9.5% | 19% | 2% | $214 | $183 |
| Notebook Computers | $813 million | 9% | 59% | 26% | $979 | $777 |
| MP3 Players | $719 million | 8% | 56% | 45% | $152 | $140 |
| Plasma TVs | $393 million | 4.5% | 95% | 29% | $2,400 | $1,582 |
Other Highlights from NPD Survey:
- Over 5.1 million MP3 players were sold during the holiday shopping season, making it the best-selling product category with a retail price over $100.
- DSLRs led the digital camera market with an 82% jump in unit sales.
- Notebook computers dominated the retail PC market capturing about two-thirds of PC sales.
- Navigation systems became the fastest growing category at retail with revenue increasing by 143% and unit growth up 309%.
- Digital cable sales brought in $37 million in revenue, a 200% increase over last year.
- Hard drives experienced a 24% jump in revenue, while USB flash increased 28%.
