Interesting read, taken from the SNDK thread.
onechannel.net
Digital Audio is 2000 Holiday Season's Only Big Winner at Pure-play E-retailers
Online Sales of Computer Systems, Printers and Scanners Plummet
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan.19, 2001 - The numbers are in, and it's now clear that the turnaround many high-tech pure plays had envisioned for the 2000 holiday season didn't materialize. According to analysis released today by OneChannel.net, the only e-business intelligence platform reporting actual sales data at Internet speed, computer systems, printers and scanners fared poorly, with only digital audio doing well: PC audio products such as digital music/MP3 players, outperformed last year's holiday season. Except for this bright spot, in category after category, sales were lower than those experienced during the l999 holiday season.
First, the good news
PC audio products increased from about $2.2 million in sales in December 1999 to about $6.4 million in December 2000, just shy of a three-fold increase. They also saw a huge spike in sales, about a 90 percent increase, from the third quarter of 2000 to the fourth, when holiday buying occurred.
Accessories did better this year as well, increasing from about $7.3 million in December1999 to about $9.2 million in December 2000. Though not strictly a holiday item, sales of communications hardware also improved from 1999 to 2000, rising from December sales of about $7.5 million in 1999 to about $10.1 million in December 2000.
An early favorite doesn't live up to predictions
Interestingly, digital cameras were favored earlier in the season to be strong performers, but overall, they actually decreased from sales of about $18.7 million in December 1999 to sales of about $14.2 million in December 2000, in total a near 16 percent drop. Digital cameras, however, experienced better sales in the fourth quarter than in the third, increasing about 27 percent from Q3 to Q4.
A lump of coal for silicon
According to OneChannel.net's analysis, computer systems experienced a very bad holiday season, consistent with reports from other industry sources. Online sales dropped from about $70 million in December 1999 to about $63.4 million in December 2000. Sales also declined by about 7.8 percent between the last two quarters of 2000. For pure-play computer retailers, this was extraordinarily bad news, since many had already reported that the third quarter had been uncharacteristically bad.
Printers and scanners also saw declines between the two holiday seasons, perhaps reflecting the lack of computer systems sales, which often generate add-on opportunities for peripherals. For example, online sales of printers fell from about $25.5 million in December 1999 to about $18 million in December 2000, about a 29 percent drop. Similarly, December online sales of scanners dipped from about $6.2 million to about $5.4 million, a near 13 percent difference.
PDAs saw a year-to-year decline in December online sales, falling from about $24 million in 1999 to about $10.4 million in 2000, translating to a decrease of about 57 percent. In particular, online sales of Palm OS-based PDAs at OneChannel.net's participating retailers dropped from about $20.7 million to about $8 million, in a comparison of December 1999 and December 2000 sales. Windows CE devices saw a similar decline, dropping from $3.1 million to $1.8 million in the same comparison.
Software equally bleak
Software sales plummeted between the two December holiday seasons as well. In December 1999 total software sales were about $27 million, while in December 2000 sales fell to about $20.5 million, resulting in a drop of about 24 percent. Even games-usually a strong holiday buying subcategory-took a hit, falling from about $4 million in December 1999 to only about $2.6 million in December 2000. To make matters worse, December 2000 software sales also fell about 5.1 percent from November 2000.
The December spike that wasn't sharp enough
Many categories-even those troubled and lackluster ones-saw holiday buying spikes in December 2000. For instance, PDAs did 77 percent better at OneChannel.net retailers in December than in November. Cameras saw a one-month increase of about 80 percent. Scanners saw an 18 percent jump as did input devices. This spike, however, was still not enough for many pure-play technology retailers who had been expecting huge increases over last year's online sales.
About OneChannel.net Reports
OneChannel.net welcomes use of its data and reports by interested publications, media and analyst firms if attribution to OneChannel.net is included. To inquire about editorial or analytical usage of OneChannel.net data and reports, please contact Melissa Shaw at (510) 723-6203 or mshaw@wilsonmchenry.com.
About OneChannel.net
OneChannel.net is the only e-business intelligence platform reporting actual sales data at Internet speed. OneChannel.net's flagship service, ChannelMetrics, provides actual product and aggregate market sales transaction information via the Web, 24 hours a day, worldwide. OneChannel.net has retail partners in multiple market segments, including industry leaders such as buy.com, Egghead.com and Outpost.com, in addition to a strategic alliance with Excite@Home. Based in Mountain View, Calif., OneChannel.net is privately held and funded by CNET Networks, America Online, Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Norwest Venture Partners and Selby Venture Partners. For more information, please go to onechannel.net. |
