Refurbished dell notebook computer

Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Sales data for the holiday season's first big shopping weekend is trickling in, with online and offline retailers hopeful that brisk sales of electronics and other gadgets are harbingers of a blockbuster December.

"Overall, U.S. retail sales on Friday and Saturday were up a combined 5.4 percent year-over-year, to $12.4 billion, according to ShopperTrak , a firm that monitors sales at retail stores in the United States. Figures on electronics sales from NPD Group are expected next week," CNET's News.com reported.

More from News.com: "Overall, the National Retail Federation ... projects that holiday 2003 sales will increase by 5.7 percent year-over-year, to $217 billion. E-commerce revenues still pale in comparison to the expected holiday take of brick-and-mortar retailers. But online revenues have been increasing steadily. Jupiter Research estimates that Web retailers will collect $16.8 billion during November and December, an increase of 21 percent from the same period last year." * CNET's News.com: Post-Turkey Consumers Gobble Up Goods

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Internet sales over the holiday weekend "were up between 22 and 31 percent from last year, in line with analyst predictions for the entire Christmas period. If that pace continues, 2003 will go down as another banner year for online retailing. The industry has shown dramatic growth for several consecutive holiday seasons, outpacing the performance of traditional stores." Northern Virginia-based ComScore Networks "projects that online shoppers will spend up to $12.6 billion over the holidays, a 30 percent increase from last year. During the week of Thanksgiving, sales jumped 31 percent from the previous year to $895 million." * The San Francisco Chronicle: Strong Start To The Season

Stuffing Santa's Bag

The news so far appears good for consumer electronics manufacturers "like Hewlett-Packard and Gateway as well as Dell and eMachines ... HP reported double-digit increases in sales of its PhotoSmart digital cameras and home PCs over the weekend. HP's increase in PC sales -- which included gains of more than 50 percent in notebook sales at some retailers -- caused the company to declare that consumers have begun to upgrade their aging PCs again, after putting those upgrades on hold during the recent economic downturn," News.com reported. Digital cameras and digital TVs appeared to be among Gateway's best-selling items, Gateway told CNET.

Dell said more than two million people clicked onto its U.S.-based Web site for PC sales, a 20 percent climb in over the four-day holiday weekend last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. "For the second year in a row, the Austin, Texas, computer maker also said more than half of its sales that weekend were made online. Dell also sells PCs via telephone and catalog. The world's largest PC seller didn't provide details of holiday weekend unit sales or revenue." A company spokesman said: "We're looking forward to the rest of the holiday season as it picks up steam." * The Wall Street Journal: Dells Says Web Traffic Surged Over Thanksgiving Weekend (Subscription required)

"Industry watchers attribute the buying frenzy to a confluence of events. Chinese manufacturers are churning out cheaper electronics en masse and making them more affordable for the average shopper just as consumer confidence in the economy -- and consumer comfort with technology -- improves. Michael Collins , a retail partner with Bain & Co. in Chicago, said the base prices are low even before the retail markdowns because more manufacturers are producing more items and more retailers are trying to selling them," The Washington Post reported. "Yesterday, the National Retail Federation reported that 1 in 4 consumers surveyed plans to purchase electronics or computer-related accessories as holiday gifts. Tops on the list are DVD players. About 8.4 percent of consumers said they would buy one as a gift, and an additional 7.3 percent plan to purchase one for themselves, the association found." * The Washington Post: Low Prices On Electronics Help Boost Retail Revenue

DVD players are selling briskly too, as major retailers like Wal-Mart and , Best Buy hawked $29 players. Portable MP3 players, wireless Internet connection tools and other items are high on consumers' wish-lists. * washingtonpost.com: Rob Pegoraro's How To Gadget Shop

Even without final numbers for the season, the positive glow left after the holiday weekend shopping spree helped buoy technology stocks. Hewlett-Packard and Oracle shares were among those that benefited, the Wall Street Journal said in another article. "Stocks continued their upward trend early Monday -- after the Nasdaq rose 3.5% over the course of last week -- boosted by news of strong holiday shopping," the article said. "Some upbeat economic data added to the holiday cheer on Wall Street. Manufacturing activity surged in November, logging its strongest growth in nearly 20 years." * The Wall Street Journal: Strong Holiday Shopping Lifts Technology Stocks (Subscription required)

Chips Ahoy!

In addition to favorable holiday sales even before the Christmas rush, the high-tech industry yesterday got more positive news when the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that sales climbed to $15.4 billion worldwide in October, a 23.3 percent jump from last October. "Strong sales of PCs propelled revenue to $15.4 billion, a 7% increase from September, the SIA said. It was the ninth month in a row that chip sales have increased, and the strongest gain from September to October since 1990," USA Today reported. "We're doing a little better than expected," Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron told the newspaper. "Chipmakers are giving a sigh of relief that they don't have to tighten the belts any further." * USA Today: Industry Smiles As Semiconductor Chip Sales Jump

More numbers, picked up by The Associated Press: "Flash memory and digital signal processors, which are used by cell phones, also increased. Flash memory sales grew 12.7 percent in October, and digital signal processors jumped 9.3 percent. The SIA attributed the strong growth to China, where about 5 million cell phone subscribers are added each month." * The Associated Press via The Miami Herald: Global Semiconductor Sales Rise 23.3 Percent In October

SIA President George Scalise said in a statement : "October is always a strong month for our industry, but this exceeds historical norms."

FatWallet Gives Retailers Fat Headache

FatWallet Inc. , a Web site that tips off consumers to retailers' bargains before sales are publicly advertised, sparked retailers' ire last week when it released information on post-Thanksgiving sales. The Wall Street Journal today notes that several retailers have warned the Illinois-based site that its practices could lead to legal action.

FatWallet isn't backing down. The company "filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Best Buy Co. 's Best Buy Enterprise Services Inc., Kohl's Corp. 's Kohl's Department Stores Inc. and Target Corp. , alleging that the retailers misused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and violated the First Amendment rights of both the site and its users," the newspaper reported. "The lawsuit represents the latest development in a two-year-old struggle between FatWallet and retailers, who generally are very secretive about their after-Thanksgiving sales, since it is their busiest time of year. Though a few retailers have started sharing details of their sales early -- some provided online versions of their sales circulars before Thanksgiving -- most try to keep the sales secret, both for competitive reasons and to lure as many customers as possible into their stores. Savvy consumers, however, have frustrated retailers by posting information about the sales on sites such as FatWallet ahead of time, something [FatWallet president Timothy] Storm attributes to their desire to plan their holiday shopping. A typical post on FatWallet includes a list of sale items and prices, often with an employee of the retailer cited as the source. Other posters allege to have seen early copies of newspaper advertisements, which are often printed weeks in advance." * The Wall Street Journal: FatWallet, Retailers Square Off Over Holiday Advertisements (Subscription required)

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