Consumer Technology Holiday Sales Predictably Lousy

Though there was no reason to expect otherwise, sales of consumer electronics in the states fell dramatically during the holiday season. While online sales rose 7.1 percent to $1.7 billion for the five weeks that ended Dec. 27, sales at brick-and-mortar stores fell 8.1 percent to $7.5 billion, according to research firm NPD Group. End result: an overall decline of 5.7 percent for what NPD analyst Stephen Baker says was “by far” the worst holiday season the firm has seen.

Seems the econalypse and the absence of a “must-have product” really played havoc with spending during our annual consumer binge. Said Baker, “Not only was there not a really hot product, not only did the economy tell people that they shouldn’t buy stuff, but the stuff I have [is] more than good enough in most cases.”