Port Washington, NY, March 19, 2009 – Consumer technology* revenue declined 4 percent in 2008 to $112.3 billion, according to leading market research company The NPD Group’s consumer tracking service. The decline follows a 4.5 percent gain in 2007.
Notebook PCs and LCD TVs were the two largest sales categories in 2008 and the claim for the top spot came pretty close. Notebook PCs generated $20.2 billion, but LCD TV sales weren’t far behind. Sales increased 37 percent to $19.9 billion. Desktop PCs, inkjet cartridges, and MP3 players rounded out the top 5.
Best Buy, with its in-store and online sales, once again grabbed the most consumer technology dollars that consumers spent in 2008. Walmart remained in second place. Dell came in third and the now defunct Circuit City’s combined sales put it in the number four spot. Apple made a move into the top 5, just edging out Staples.
Hewlett-Packard took the top spot among the OEMs. Second place was a virtual tie between Apple, Sony, and Dell. Samsung came in fifth.
Dell moving into retail in 2008 had an impact on non-retail sales. Non-retail sales dropped 6 percent in 2008, but if you take out Dell, sales increased 6 percent. Online only retailers had a good year, growing 37 percent to $4.8 billion and retailer Web site sales were also up, gaining almost 3 percent in revenue to $ 7.6 billion. Retail brick and mortar sales declined 3 percent to $83 billion.
“Despite a decline in sales and the upheaval in growth, pricing, and distribution which occurred in 2008, the consumer technology industry has strong reasons to be optimistic in 2009,” said, Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “What we experienced in 2008 will continue to reshape the industry this year but we’ve already seen signs that people haven’t given up on consumer technology. The speed with which Circuit City's liquidation occurred shows that when offered great bargains on electronics consumers are willing to allocate their precious dollars towards these products over many others,” continued Baker. “We believe that merchants with a focus on great products and brands that provide compelling design, style, and price will be well positioned to ride out this poor climate and emerge even stronger when consumer technology resumes its more traditional growth path.”
*Consumer Technology sales include IT, imaging, audio, video, and consumables, and exclude video game hardware and software, PC software, and mobile phones.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,700 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or or visit http://www.npd.com and http://www.npdgroupblog.com.