by Doug Desjardins
Deals on electronics are always a big part of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the specials this November will have a different twist.
For years, electronics retailers have been luring customers into stores with discounts on LCD and plasma TVs--but that won't be the focus in 2009. "In the past, it's been TVs, but not this year," said Shaun DuBravac of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The product-du-jour for 2009 appears to be Blu-ray DVD players. Retailers have already started promoting Blu-ray specials, with Amazon.com selling an LB BD370 player for $149, down from a regular price of $249, and Fry's Electronics selling refurbished Samsung players for $119. And those prices are expected to drop below $100 at most places on Black Friday, cuts that could have a huge impact on player sales given the fact that most Blu-ray players are still priced above $200. 
And it's been a long time coming for the high-definition DVD format that debuted in 2005. Blu-ray creator Sony Corp. expected 2008 to be a breakout year after high-definition rival Toshiba Corp. threw in the towel and dropped its HD-DVD high-definition format. But a deepening recession and the Wall Street meltdown in October wiped out that momentum and sales flattened out.
According to the CEA, Blu-ray player sales totaled 2.7 million in 2008 compared to 2.4 million in 2007. This year, the CEA expects player sales to increase 112% to nearly 6 million units.
But there's another reason for the focus on Blu-ray price cuts. "Blu-ray is one of the few product categories where there's any room left for price cuts," said Stephen Baker, VP of industry analysis for The NPD Group.
Baker says the maturation of key categories like high definition TVS, digital cameras and PCs has left retailers with little room to work with when it comes to luring customers into stores and online with a discount price. "Even selling a notebook PC for $99 isn't all that dramatic now that you can buy them every day for $299," said Baker. "Prices in most categories have been falling all year, so they're already at rock bottom." Baker said another area of interest this year could be e-readers like Kindle, though he isn't convinced the consumer base is large enough to drive significant sales.
Retailers are also better prepared for slower spending this year than they were in 2008, when the economy nosedived in October well after orders for the holiday season had already been placed. The National Retail Federation reports that imports of consumer products declined 18% in September to their lowest level since 2002, a sign that retailers have trimmed inventory and won't need to slash prices to move product off shelves.
Footnotes
Spending on Consumer Electronics to Increase this Holiday
COUPON TIME
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