Even though the leaves are barely changing color, electronic retailers are looking towards the holiday season for sales. The Wall Street Journal reports that people are more interested in buying tablets and multi-use mobile phones over traditional electronics such as televisions and PCs. For the newspaper industry, this could potentially broaden the market of consumers.

Brain Dunn, chief executive of the electronics store Best Buy, notes that people are becoming more interested in staying connecting regardless of their location. "People are willing to disproportionately spend for these devices because they are becoming so important to their lives," he states. The numbers speak for themselves; Dunn estimates that the introduction of the iPad has chewed into sales of laptop PCs by roughly 50%. Television sales have also dropped off, as people are interesting in buying mobile devices they haven't previously owned rather than upgrade their current entertainment systems.

Regardless of the losses for computers and televisions, the electronic sector is thriving. "Best Buy, which reported a 61% jump in second quarter profit Tuesday despite flat sales at stores open at least 14 months, said it will showcase devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computer and Amazon.com Inc's Kindle e-reader this holiday season," writes the Wall Street Journal.

The success of the electronic industry could trickle down to newspapers. Previously more people have consumed news on televisions, yet there is potential that this trend could change for 2011. With the iPad tablet being more desired than computers, it could help turn the revenue stream around for the industry, as newspapers might have more success charging for content on a mobile device rather than on computers.

The new tablet revolution does not come without complications. Apple is currently working on an app contract with newspapers, in which it plans to take a cut of 30% to 40% of the profits. Apple's app review system still remains unclear as to which apps will be accepted into its store. Currently newspapers have little choice but to work with Apple, as it is the most dominate competitor in the tablet field. Conversely, if Apple does not make its regulations looser for newspapers, there are plenty of up and coming rivals who are vying to take Apple's place at the top. DigiTimes reports Taiwan's HTC announced its plans to launch an Android tablet, although it would debut after this holiday season, sometime in early 2011.

While kinks remain in newspapers' app business model, the surge of mobile devices in the electronic sector is a positive sign. Hopefully the success of the iPad and mobile devices in 2010 will translate in to success for newspapers in 2011.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, DigiTimes

Image: Associated Press