In a breakdown of the 2011 U.S. consumer electronics market, The NPD Group has named the top brands, retailers and categories in the $144 billion industry.
Apple leads the way
Apple unsurprisingly stole the show, easily grabbing the vaunted number one consumer brand spot. The Cupertino company saw a 36 percent year-over-year revenue increase, making it the only one in the top five to actually see growth. Apple's strong holiday showing helped considerably. Last quarter, the company sold 15.4 million iPads and over 37 million iPhones.
The other four competitors - HP, Samsung, Sony and Dell - each saw varying levels of decline. Sony, which unloaded its majority share in a joint LCD TV company to partner Samsung in the closing days of 2011, was hit the hardest, with revenue plummeting 21 percent.
Retail vs. Online
Among CE retailers, Best Buy was king, beating out Walmart, Apple, Staples and Amazon. But with cyber shopping now capturing nearly a quarter of all sales, retailers should be concerned, said Stephen Baker, NPD vice president of industry analysis.
"While in-store sales fell about 2.5 percent in 2011, the growth in online volumes for retailers meant that retail name plates still accounted for well over four of every five dollars spent on CE hardware in the US," said Baker. "Despite their sales strength, retail stores still face serious challenges in 2012 as volumes in the traditional CE categories, which once carried these stores, continue to slide."
Baker added that retailers hold an ace-in-the-hole: mobile phones and tablets. "The two fastest growing CE categories have mostly been driven through in-store experiences," he said.
PCs pull weight
Though the PC limped into 2012 thanks to an HDD shortage and strong tablet sales, desktops and notebooks still managed to beat out all other CE at retail, garnering 19.3 percent of total revenue. TV sales accounted for 13.8 percent, while video game systems took in 5.6 percent. All three categories saw year-over-year drops.
The big winners this year were tablets/e-readers and mobile phones, which grew to 10.7 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. The former stood at just 5.1 percent the year prior, the analyst revealed. (via The NPD Group)
