Holiday Shoppers Snatch Up iPads, $199 Surface
Many of us probably know someone who abandoned Thanksgiving dinner or got up at the crack of dawn on Black Friday to secure deals on popular gadgets, but what devices were shoppers battling each other to buy?
By Chloe Albanesius
December 1, 2013 9:23PM EST
According to stats from InfoScout, gathered from 125,000 shoppers, Apple's iPad was atop many shoppers' gift lists, but the Microsoft Surface, Kindle Fire HD tablet, Xbox 360, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, and various big-screen TVs were also popular among Black Friday shoppers.
In an infographic (below), InfoScout broke down the most popular items sold at Walmart, Target, and Best Buy on Black Friday. Walmart shoppers flocked to the 16GB Apple iPad mini (non-Retina), which was not discounted but sold with a $100 Walmart gift card. The newer 16GB iPad Air was most popular at Target, which was discounted $20 and also came with a $100 Target gift card. At Best Buy, the original Microsoft Surface RT topped the iPad 2 in popularity thanks to its rock-bottom $199 price point.
Also popular at Walmart was a 60-inch Vizio TV, 14-inch HP Pavilion laptop, 32-inch Funai LED TV, and a 50-inch Emerson LCD TV. At Target, shoppers brought home the 16GB iPad mini, 32GB iPad Air, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, and a 50-inch Element TV. Rounding out the top five most popular gadgets at Best Buy were the 16GB Kindle Fire HD, Samsung Galaxy tablet, and the Xbox 360.
Interestingly, InfoScout said in a separate post that "roughly 40 percent of Black Friday iPad purchases could be attributed to existing Android smartphone users. This discovery clearly poses a challenge for Android moving forward and heightens the importance of Chromecast as Google competes for mindshare in the living room of the future."
Among video game and console sales, the new Xbox One was most popular with 31 percent of sales, followed closely by the older (and now cheaper) Xbox 360 at 30 percent. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 tied at 15 percent, followed by the Wii U at 6 percent. Call of Duty: Ghosts was the most popular game.
For more, check out the infographic below, as well as some stats about this year's Black Friday, and mobile apps to help you navigate Cyber Monday.
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Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News & Features
Before joining PCMag.com, Chloe covered financial IT for Incisive Media in NYC and technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's deg... See Full Bio
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