TVs May Get Poor Reception This Holiday Season

Consumer electronics are the bigger-ticket bellwethers of the holiday season. But this year, TVs and DVD players are likely to lose ground to newer, smaller—yet just as pricey—electronic devices.

Executives at NATM Buying Corp., a national buying co-op representing some of the country's largest big-box regional chains, predict that while products such as e-readers and smart phones will continue to do well, TV and other electronic sales will drop. This is in part due to the fact that the supply of TVs has been cut short. As suppliers start seeking other, more profitable markets overseas, they are leaving U.S. retailers high and dry. MEGA Group USA is projecting that holiday sales will land somewhere between flat to negative 2 percent.

Due to the current economic climate and slow summer sales, many consumer electronics retailers are forecasting frosty sales figures overall for the 2011 holiday shopping season.

Still, even with dreary forecasts, some executives are remaining optimistic. D&H Distributing Co. is anticipating strong sales in thin and light notebooks. And Staples, Inc., the nation's leading office-supply chain, plans to feature 10 different tablet and e-reader models, ranging from Amazon's Kindle to Motorola's Xoom, by Christmas. Staples executives even anticipate a bump in general consumer electronics retail coming sooner rather than later.