Best Buy takes hit in games sector
Entertainment sales down 15 per cent due to games decline
US retailer Best Buy saw entertainment sales drop by over 15 per cent during December, primarily due to a fall in videogame sales.
Overall the company reported a decline in sales of 1.6 per cent for the five weeks of December, to $8.4 billion.
"In the Domestic segment, the entertainment software category comparable store sales declined 15.4 percent driven primarily by a decrease in gaming and continued softness in music and movies," said the company.
The consumer electronics business, which includes videogame hardware, was also down 7.9 per cent, although this was mainly due to slow television sales.
Last week retailer Toys R Us reported that sales of games were also down for the business, as did UK entertainment brand HMV, which is being forced to close 60 stores due to a decline in High Street sales.
Game specialist GameStop recently revealed that it had a record Christmas period, with total sales of $3.02 billion, driven by Kinect, Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed performance.