Sales | featured news

The music industry, the first media business to be consumed by the digital revolution, said Tuesday that its global sales had risen last year for the first time since 1999, raising hopes that a long-sought recovery might have finally begun.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc 18 percent dividend increase and comments that U.S. sales patterns were more normal late last week after a slow start to the year helped boost shares of the world's largest retailer 2.6 percent on Thursday.

Danish toy maker Lego says sales soared 25 percent last year thanks partly to the new Lego Friends series of building blocks designed for girls.

Android continues to dominate the battle to be the top smartphone system in the world, thanks in part to Samsung, which reigned as the top phone manufacturer for 2012.

Many top retailers reported strong January sales on Thursday after offering merchandise and deals that drew in shoppers in spite of higher payroll taxes.

EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that just beat Wall Street expectations, but the e-commerce company also gave a cautious forecast for 2013. EBay shares climbed 1.7 percent to $53.80 in after-hours trading following the announcement. Expectations were high ahead of the results because sales data from outside sources suggested strong sales growth from eBay's online marketplace and a solid increase in transactions processed by the company's PayPal payments business.

Revenue at Barnes & Noble stores fell 10.9% during the holidays, as sales of Nook devices slipped, a sign that the retailer is falling behind in the tablet battle with Amazon, Apple and Google.

An auto industry research firm says an improving economy and a host of new models should push U.S. auto sales above 15 million this year.

Black Friday retail sales online this year topped $1 billion for the first time ever as more consumers used the Internet do their early holiday shopping, comScore Inc said on Sunday.

One reason some people waited in long lines to be the first to get the new Nintendo Wii U console has nothing to do with the games. With Wii U devices all but guaranteed to be sold out at retailers around the world this Christmas, some buyers immediately put their new consoles on Ebay. Wii Us are already selling for over $500 on the site. There were well over 2,500 consoles listed on the world’s largest auction site just hours after it went on sale on November 18 at the Nintendo World store in New York City and around the globe.