It seems that shopping online was even more frenetic with online sales up 50% on last years' figures in the run up to Christmas as reported by IMRG, an industry body for global e-Retailing. Apple's online sales must have hit record levels as their online iTunes music store was so swamped with shoppers wanting to exchange their Christmas gift vouchers for tunes and videos it seemingly buckled under the demand. Apple's technical forum soon became clogged up with shoppers complaints that they weren't able to access iTunes at all or were having problems downloading their purchases. Many analysts commented that this was simply a reflection of how successful Apple are, commanding an estimated 75% of the download music market. Michael Gartenberg, VP at Jupiter Research, observed "What you're seeing is the tremendous success of the iPod. No matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short." Online market research company Hitwise quantified Apple's success by stating that four times as many people visited the iTunes store this Christmas than at the same time last year.
Another tech present winner this Christmas seems to be the Nintendo Wii with shops selling out as soon as they hit the shelves and eBay prices reaching as high as £500 per unit, compared to their recommended retail price of £179, in the build up to Christmas. Nintendo's primary competitor in the Christmas market was Sony's Play Station 3 but, with the Wii having outsold the PS3 at an estimated rate of two to one, it's clear who the victor is. Gaming forums are citing the Wii's "playability and entertainment value" as its competitive edge. The third video game market player is the Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 but it was never in the Christmas 2006 running due to having been on the market for some time now. In the handheld gaming market the Nintendo DS Lite maintained its strong lead over rival Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP).
This all supports a study by Leadpile.com earlier this year which predicted e-commerce in the United States would top $100 billion in 2006. The years final figures won't be in for a while yet but they can't be far off the mark given the late Christmas boost!
