Personal computers made impressive sales gains during Black Friday week, which ended November 26, 2005, according to data from Current Analysis’ Retail Panel participants. Both unit sales and revenue increased for personal computers amid lowering prices of desktops. The most noticeable fact is that there were more notebooks than desktops sold.

According to the research firm, during Black Friday week, U.S. retail sales of personal computers saw an overall increase of 35% in unit sales and 11% increase in revenue. This represents a turn around when compared to Black Friday week 2004, where unit sales of personal computers increased by only 7% and revenue decreased by 3%.

Notebooks led the charge within the personal computer market by increasing unit sales by 48.6% and revenue by 21%. In addition to leading growth, the notebook category sold more units (52%) than desktops (48%). This is the first time notebooks led desktops in unit sales during a holiday period.

Although it did not experience the explosive growth of the notebook category, the desktop category produced a sizable year-over-year increase of 23% in terms of unit sales. However, due to falling prices and aggressive holiday promotions, desktop retail revenue declined 4% from the previous year. Despite the revenue decline, the 23% growth of the desktop category is a clear indicator that desktops, particularly within the value space, cannot be ignored.