Hasta La Gadget!

The holiday shopping weekend, which comprised of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the first working day of the next week, Cyber Monday has finally ended. Customers spent almost $2 billion online on Thanksgiving and Black Friday alone. The latest data from analytics firm Localytics reveals that new iPad Air activations led all other tablets during the entire period. The firm recorded a 51 percent increase in activations of new iPads as opposed to the weekend prior to the holiday shopping weekend.

According to Localytics, the reasons why iPad Air activations surged this past weekend include the fact that the tablet is relatively new, having only been released on November 1st. Apple also gave away $75 gift card with each purchase, which was an incentive in its own right. The Retina iPad mini came in second place with a 26 percent surge in new activations. Third place in tablets was taken by Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7, a 23 percent surge in its new activations was recorded. Amazon’s Cyber Monday deal would definitely have helped, the company shaved $50 off the tablet’s price. The deal attracted quite a lot of customers, stock was sold out even before Cyber Monday ended. In smartphones, the iPhone 5c activations jumped 26 percent, Galaxy S4 saw a 20 percent surge and the iPhone 5s came in at third with 15 percent of new activations.

iPad Air Leads Tablets During Holiday Weekend original content from Ubergizmo.

A research note from Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, reveals that more than 39 percent of online shoppers over the holiday weekend were interested in purchasing a tablet. With nearly $2 billion being spent over the weekend online, customers are bound to have purchased a significant amount of tablets as well apart from a wide variety of other products. Tablets were at the forefront of the consumer electronics segment, with Walmart and Target both revealing that the iPads were the top sellers on Black Friday.

Apple released the Retina iPad mini rather quietly last month amid reports that the supplies were ridiculously tight due to production bottlenecks. The company would have worked very hard to ensure that there was enough supply to go around the lucrative Black Friday weekend, the analyst found all Wi-Fi models of the first and second generation iPad mini to be readily available. Recently it was reported that major U.S. carriers had the cellular Retina iPad mini models backordered and it appears that supply of those particular models hasn’t eased up as yet, with 64GB and 128GB cellular models being hard to find but 16GB models are available at most of the Apple Retail Stores in the U.S. Analysts expect that Retina iPad mini supply will further improve around Christmas and will ultimately close up the demand supply gap in the first quarter of 2014.

Holiday Shoppers Prefer Tablets As Retina iPad Mini Supply Eases Up original content from Ubergizmo.

Nobody will be surprised when they hear that a lot of people spent a lot of money on online shopping this Black Friday, it has become a yearly tradition. According to the latest data released by comScore, over $1.2 billion was spent online this Black Friday, making it the first holiday day this season to cross the billion dollar mark. Black Friday 2012 saw a total of $1.04 billion being spent online, which is roughly a 15 percent year-over-year increase that translates into an additional $156 million being spent on online shopping this Black Friday.

Online shopping surged 21 percent on Thanksgiving 2013 as opposed to last year, with $766 million being spent online. According to comScore, online retail websites were visited by some 66 million visitors on Black Friday 2013 with Amazon being the most visited online retailer. This means that each visitor spent just above $18 per transaction. eBay, Walmart, Best Buy and Target were the most visited in this particular order after Amazon. 28 percent of all online purchases are accounted for by apparel and accessories, computer hardware, consumer electronics, packaged goods and shipping services follow next. Online holiday spending in 2013 is up 24 percent and another surge is expected around the Christmas holidays. So, what did you buy this Black Friday?

Over $1.2 Billion Spent Online This Black Friday original content from Ubergizmo.

Black Friday, and its stinky alter-ego Brown Friday, are behind us, meaning our national bloodsport of post-Thanksgiving dealhunting has shifted into the gradually-mounting panic of the holiday shopping countdown. With online deals and brick-and-mortar stores vying for buyers’ bucks, where do you plan on picking up your holiday needs?

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Best Buy is taking a cool $75 off the price of the iPhone 5s with a 2 year contract, bringing the 16GB model down to $125. You can go into a real life Walmart and get the same phone for $189 – $75 Walmart credit, which is technically a slightly better deal, but this is online and a straight discount. All three carriers, and multiple colors and capacities eligible. [Best Buy]

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