Coronavirus crunch not keeping Americans from spending on consumer tech
DVD and Blu-Ray devices saw a 27% increase in sales
Americans aren't letting the coronavirus pandemic get in the way of their new tech purchases.
Market research group NPD tracked a 23-percent increase in general consumer tech sales year-over-year for the week ending on April 18 to nearly $1.8 billion, NPD Vice President Stephen Baker wrote in a Monday tweet.
April sales topped a 21-percent increase in consumer tech sales for the week ending on March 21 when work-from-home technology "dominated" the market, Baker said.
The NPD vice president added that work-from-home tech sales were up 67 percent in Paril, compared to 53 percent in March, and monitor sales have doubled in the past five weeks to nearly 1.3 million sales.
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Personal computer sales have increased by "at least 30 percent" during each of the past five weeks; Chromebook sales increased by 100 percent during each of those weeks. Windows sales, by contrast, went up 45 percent over the last five weeks, Baker said.
People also bought more televisions than ever purchased outside a holiday. Additionally, sales grew for networking technology, headphones, printers, DIY components, microphones, range extenders, streaming players, TV mounts and soundbars.
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Even DVD and Blu-Ray devices saw a 27-percent increase in sales, despite a surge in streaming network subscriptions. NPD reported last week, however, that 31 percent of U.S. households do not have broadband access.
This June 19, 2017 file photo shows a person working on a laptop in North Andover, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
"All of the dynamics at play have created a need for more supplies than usual, and magnified pre-pandemic trends pertaining to sustainable and digital solutions," Leen Nsouli, NPD's office supplies industry analyst, said in an April 22 statement.
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He added that "smart" home office supplies are also seeing a boost in sales "as sustainability becomes more top-of-mind for consumers and appeal grows for reusable and eco-friendly options"
"In addition, the union of traditional supplies and technology means that for the longer term, manufacturers best positioned for the future are those adapting to create a complete and balanced model for consumers to easily travel from physical to digital under one umbrella," Nsouli said.