Sales of home electrical appliances at big retailers totaled 197.7 billion yen (U.S. $1.7 billion)in January, down 2.16 percent from a year earlier, marking the fifth consecutive month of declines, the Nippon Electric Big-Stores Association said.
Sales of television sets fell 2.39 percent from a year earlier, marking the first drop since March 2002, the association said, adding the fall was partly in reaction to large demand related to the previous year's Winter Olympics Game in Salt Lake City, UT, U.S. and front-loaded demand in December. (Kyodo News)
