Best Buy has Less Than Best Holiday

America's number one electronics retailer,

reported disappointing December sales figures on Friday. Even with retailers struggling across the board, BBY was expected to do better but, with the holiday traffic slowing and not picking up until the week before Christmas, even they suffered. According to the

, the total sales were flat at $8.4 billion. “Comparable sales, or sales at stores, call centers and websites operating for at least 14 months, declined 1.2% in the five weeks ended Dec. 31, including a 0.4% decline in the U.S. and a 4.3% drop internationally.” “BBY declined to say what its original sales forecast for the month was. Its traffic pattern echoed that of many other retailers that cited a lull between Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and the week leading up to Christmas. Best Buy was repeatedly cited as a top traffic winner during Black Friday, helped by its specials such as Sharp 42” HDTV for $200.” It certainly is not just BBY, with all retailers within the electronics category underperforming. “Costco Wholesale

on Thursday said its television sales declined in the double digits and Target

blamed disappointing December sales in part on lower electronics demand. Sears Holdings

said last week said lower electronics sales helped to contribute to declines at both its Kmart and namesake chain.”

reported that, “While the international same-store sales number missed most analyst expectations, many such as David Strasser at Janney Capital Markets and Anthony Chukumba at BB&T Capital Markets said they were happy with Best Buy's domestic performance, especially since they believe the chain gained market share in the United States during the key selling season.” “It does appear that Best Buy, at least from a brick-and-mortar perspective, picked up market share in December,” Chukumba said to CNBC, pointing to weak performance in the consumer electronics sector by Costco Wholesale and Target. “It is good enough from my perspective,” Chukumba said. “I am just happy they are going to make (profit numbers for) the quarter.” With retailers suffering in all sectors, perhaps the electronics industry did not do so badly after all. Consumers were tightening belts, and it could just be that people who were buying iPods and TVs as gifts a couple of years ago are buying a book and some candy this year.