Falling prices on TVs and 7-inch Android tablets helped boost Black Friday sales to nearly $5 billion, NPD reported Wednesday. The retail analyst firm added that sales of "stocking stuffer" accessories also showed dramatic growth from a year ago.
All told, sales during Black Friday week (Nov. 24 through Nov. 30) increased nearly 10 percent compared with a year ago, the firm found. One of the only laggards during the period was the slowdown in Windows sales, which dropped off by more than 10 percent compared to 2012.
TVs and tablets generated the most revenue of any category measured by NPD, prompted in part by what appears to be the migration of low-end TVs into what might be called impulse buys. Retailers polled by NPD reported $1.4 billion in TV sales during that one week alone, up 5.6 percent, with units climbing more than 16 percent to 4.7 million units. Interestingly, both high-end and low-end TVs flew off the shelves, with 60-inch TV sales growing by 60 percent; the average price was a little more than $1000, down about $300 from a year ago. Vizio led with 55 percent of the 60-inch TV market. Samsung, then Sharp, trailed with 29 percent and 8 percent, respectively.)
Expect more deals as the holiday season progresses.
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