About the same time the people in Greece were taking to the streets to demonstrate against bad economic times, another crowd was gathering at the opening of the first Best Buy store in the United Kingdom, in Thurrock, England. The store broke all opening sales records for the retail giant.
Even in the darkness of a world-wide economic downturn, there is a beacon of light—electronic gadget sales remain robust.
Overall Gadget Sales
The U.S. Census Bureau monthly report shows an up trend in electronic gadgetry sales for in-store, on-line, and mail order houses. On-line and mail order sales rose in March by 8.8 percent, while appliance and television sales rose 8.7 percent. Computer and software stores reported a 9 percent increase in sales.
It seems the public can’t get enough of the latest and greatest in electronic gadgetry. Amazon reported when the new Nintendo Wii came on market, they sold 17 units per second until their stock was gone, according to Tech Chronicles.
It’s Everywhere
Forbes Magazine notes that each American family spends an average of $1,200 annually on consumer electronics. In modern life, it is nearly impossible to find havens devoid of the electronic buzz. We are a plugged-in, turned-on, tuned-in, and chatting generation. ComScore, Inc. reports that 234 million Americans 13 years old and older subscribe to some mobile phone server.
Sales Leaders
Leaders in the must-have-it-or-I-will-perish electronic gadgetry are HD Television (now with 3D), GPS—especially in-dash varieties, and small, portable computing devices such as small laptops, notebooks, and netbooks. The new guy on the block, I Pad, reached the 1 million sold mark by May 3rd, with 12 million applications to go with it. A trend-setting 1.5 million books had been downloaded.
Demand Drives the Train
Part of the phenomenon comes from lower prices. Display Search expects global prices for LCD TVs to fall by 24 percent due to rising demand in China, coupled with an expected increase of 22 percent in sales.
Americans and, it seems, the whole world, love to have the next new neat electronic gadget, game, or gizmo and will make the needed budget cuts in some other part of their lives to get it. Electronic gadgets appear to be the one bright spot in the otherwise bloomy economic landscape. Go forth and buy.
Guest Writer : This guest post is contributed by Maria Rainier, she writes on the topic of onlinedegrees. You can also write for this blog as a Guest Writer.
In my view, the gadget sales didn’t go unexpectedly up. They were to grow as usual, but the economy going down brought the gadget sale count into everyone’s eyes.