US consumers sent electronics sales soaring

Has the US consumer computer and electronics markets come back to life? Retail sales were up as much as 12 percent across the US during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday, which signals the start of the holiday shopping season.

Sales of personal computers, new video game consoles and other electronics gadgets were up sharply. Officials at Hewlett-Packard said shoppers snapped up personal computers and electronics during the Thanksgiving weekend. Personal computer sales rose 10 percent in dollar terms and more than 20 percent in units, said Bob Wies, GM, HP's US printer and personal computer business. "I think consumers came early. They might have smaller budgets but their spirits seem to be high.

We are really pleased. The whole month of November has been very, very strong for us."

Retailers and high-tech companies like HP are eager so to see the momentum in sales carry on through the end of December after a year of dismal sales results.

A lot of the buying has been brought on by heavy discounting and low interest rates. And even Wies cautioned that, "This year I think consumers have shopped much earlier. Of course, we hope that that will lead to a continued trend as they purchase through the holiday season. At the same time it could mean that people went out because the values were down early on, made their purchases and we may not see that volume pick up."

Wies said that after the September 11 attacks consumers appeared to be after products for the home and communication, such as digital cameras that produce pictures that can be e-mailed to far-away relatives. "A lot of products that make sense for home entertainment and/or personal use, at least over the weekend, seem to be doing very well."