The general mood of frugality hitting US shoppers has yet to extend to the most popular electronics goods, which are seeing continuing robust demand. Some electronics retailers are even taking advantage of the belt-tightening trend to lift sales.

In spite of the country being apparently on the brink of recession, overall demand for new gadgets saw consumer electronics sales up an annualised 4.8 per cent in July, according to US government estimates. Sales of furniture and home furnishings declined by the same amount, while clothing sales managed a mere 0.9 per cent rise.

The belt-tightening atmosphere has hit such companies as Procter & Gamble, which claims its US shoppers are trying to save money by opting for its cheaper brands of paper towels. Elsewhere, sales of 12oz bottles of Coca-Cola sold in petrol stations are down, as people cut back on driving. In supermarkets, sales of cheaper, private-label foods are on the rise.

By contrast, even Wal-Mart’s largely low-income shoppers are finding money for electronics. Last week, the retailer reported “strong sales” of flat-screen televisions, personal computers and digital music players.

The release of Apple’s new $200-$300 3G iPhone had supposedly cash-strapped customers lining up outside its stores. Amazon, the online retailer, saw its shares surge last week after a Wall Street analyst predicted strong sales of its $359 Kindle wireless electronic book reader.

Some electronics retailers have sought to exploit the frugal mood to drive sales. Amazon is urging customers who want to save money to skip their vacations and invest in electronics instead, arguing that its “great selection of MP3 players, speaker docks, and other accessories will make your house feel like a five-star resort”.

Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club has also been offering a “staycation bundle” with a 46in television and accessories for slightly less than $2,000.

Meanwhile, sales of home media products. such as computer games and DVDs, are also holding up.

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, the DVD rental service, told investors last month that “we appear to be substantially unaffected by this significant economic negative climate”.

GameStop, the computer games retailer, is predicting that sales at stores open at least a year will increase by between 12 and 14 per cent during its current quarter.

The retailer has acknowledged some impact from the economic mood this summer, noting that budget-conscious customers were trading in their old games in order to get the money together to buy latest titles.

Stephen Baker, who tracks consumer electronics sales at NPD Group, notes that some product categories are clearly outperforming others. Lower costs and greater availability of HD programming are factors supporting flat-panel TV sales, while the “huge trend towards mobility” is supporting computer notebooks and mobile devices.

But he argues that the electronics business as a whole is still feeling the pressure of the wider economic slowdown. “It would be a mistake to categorise the electronics business as immune to the wider economy; there have been a lot of challenges,” he says. “For the electronics business, sales growth under 5 per cent is cause for distress.”