Summer Sales Drop; Hope for “Stabilized” Holiday Outlook

Consumer electronics sales dropped 3.4% during July and August compared to the same months last year, according to an analysis by SpendingPulse, an information service of MasterCard Advisors.

Although the fall off is far less than in other categories, such as apparel (down 8.5%) and furniture (off 18.6%, fueled by the housing crash), the drop in CE sales is at a pace far greater than the 0.6% sales decline that the Consumer Electronics Association predicted for this year in its January 2009 forecast, issued at the January CES.

SpendingPulse estimates that overall CE sales during the two summer months were down about $660 million from the previous year. The study focused on back-to-school categories.