Retail sales of consumer electronics on Black Friday dropped 5.6 percent from last year, a steeper decline than expected, according to NPD Group research released Tuesday.
Successful products on Black Friday included Android tablets and larger flat-panel TVs. Less successful ones were smaller flat-panel TVs and notebook PCs.
“This slow start is merely a continuation of the challenges seen in the consumer electronics business throughout 2012,” Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD, said in a statement. “In an unbalanced market, where just a few categories deliver significant dollars, and even fewer offer any growth, the ability to deliver positive results will remain difficult for companies exposed to the entire consumer electronics marketplace.”
