Best Buy reports sagging holiday game sales

Yesterday, specialty retailer GameStop reported record-breaking holiday revenues, but not every retailer enjoyed that sort of success with end-of-2010 game sales. Best Buy today reported that its sales figures for December totaled $8.5 billion, a 1.6 percent year-over-year drop, with gaming named as a significant contributor to the shortfall.

While Best Buy's overall sales were down slightly, the chain's domestic entertainment software revenues fell sharply. The average store open 14 months or longer saw entertainment software sales down 15.4 percent. The company said the slide was "percent driven primarily by a decrease in gaming and continued softness in music and movies." Consumer electronics also hurt Best Buy's bottom line, as growth in the e-reader market couldn't offset slumping TV sales. As a result, the category posted a 7.9 slide in comparable store sales.

Not all of the news was bad for Best Buy. The company said its results were "within our expected range of outcomes for the month" and noted several divisions that saw increases in comparable store sales over last year. Mobile phone revenues were up in the low double-digits thanks to growing smartphone business, while mobile computing, appliances, services, and online sales all enjoyed gains as well.