Proven gizmos lead electronics holiday charge
The Des Moines Register
Sat, Dec 13 1997
The Rex is supposedly hot but hard to find. Satellite dishes continue to sell. And
Barney has gone digital.
As Iowans hunt for high-tech gadgets this holiday season, Des Moines-area
electronics retailers say shoppers are buying established products and shying away
from those without a track record.
"We're selling a tremendous number of digital satellite systems," said Scott
Ammann, the sales manager at the Best Buy store on Southeast 14th Street in Des
Moines. Ammann said the minidishes ($99 and up) are in their third selling season
but are still growing in popularity, as people look for an alternative to cable TV.
Analysts and retailers expect electronics sales to modestly exceed those of last
year's holiday season, which were hurt by the lack of a major hot item. Helping
sales this year are a fresh wave of interesting products and a strong economy.
Nationally, one of the hottest new electronic devices is supposed to be the Rex
($130 to $179, www.franklin.com), which fits in a laptop's PC card slot and
synchronizes information between two computers.
The credit card-size device weighs just 1.4 ounces and stores up to 2,500
names and addresses, appointments, to-do lists and other items, all
displayed on a high-contrast screen.
But Iowans don't seem very hip to Rex.
"I've had them for two months, and I've sold one," said Seamus Murphy, the
upgrade department manager at computer retailer CompUSA in Clive.
Four other area electronics retailers said they didn't carry the product.
Murphy said customers looking for pocket databases and calendars seem much
more interested in 3Com's PalmPilots ($250 to $380, www.3com.com),
which are the most popular hand-held computers in the United States
and also can handle e-mail. "You get a lot more for your money," Murphy
said, comparing the Rex to PalmPilots.
As they have in previous Christmas seasons, cellular phones continue to grow in
popularity.
"Wireless products are always hot this time of year," said Rachel Eveland, the
manager of the Radio Shack at Valley West Mall, in West Des Moines. "We're
keeping up, but sometimes it's tough."
Eveland said manufacturers and service providers are offering rebates that are
bringing down the cost of the latest digital PCS (personal communications system)
phones. "It brings some of the phones down to $50," she said. Eveland said families
also are buying Family Radio Service radios ($75 each, and up) that provide FM
communication for up to a mile. "They are good for hiking, and people use them in
the malls," she said.
At Ultimate Electronics in Des Moines, manager Greg Frick said WebTV ($200,
www.webtv.com) is one of his hottest products.
"For people who have never had computers, it's extremely user friendly," he said.
The devices connect to television sets and allow people to use the Internet without
a computer.
As at Best Buy, Frick said Ultimate Electronics' sales of satellite dishes are
"extremely hot." Sales of DVD players aren't so hot.
The digital video disks, appearing in stores for their first holiday season, are
supposed to eventually replace video cassettes, because they show crisper, clearer
movies and games. But the players start at $500, more than double the price of
many VCRs.
"I don't think they are quite as popular as we would like to see them," Frick said.
"Once the bigger rental movie stores start renting them, we'll started selling more."
Digital cameras, which started coming into the mainstream consumer market last
Christmas, continue to grow in popularity, including the higher-end models selling for
$799. "People are using them for anything and everything," said Ammann at Best
Buy. Computers, especially those under $1,000, also continue to sell well, he said.
For the younger crowd, the Interactive Barney doll ($99), which can be connected
to a PC and used with different software titles, has also been a hot seller at
electronics dealers nationwide.
Knight-Ridder Newspapers contributed to this report
If you need more gift ideas, check the following sites:
* FamilyPC Gift Guide at www.zdnet.com/familypc/content/9711/gift
* BusinessWeek's Technology Buying Guide at
www.businessweek.com/1997/47/mavenframe.htm
* Fortune magazine's Technology Buyer's Guide at
www.pathfinder.com/fortune/buyersguide
* Hot Digital Toys at www.zdnet.com/pccomp/equip/welcome.html
* Macworld Buyer's Guide at www.macworld.com/buyers
* Technogadgets.com at www.technogadgets.com/tour.htm
Photos By: BOB NANDELL/Register photos
The Interactive Barney, above, and the Sony Mavica digital camera, which Best
Buy clerk Brad Jarnagin, left, shows to Mark Muse of Des Moines, are among the
hot-selling electronic items this holiday season.
3Com's PalmPilots ($250 to $380) are the most popular hand-held computers
in the United States and also can handle e-mail.
(Copyright 1997)
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