GFK-ChartTrack has banned DSGi from its panel, after the PC World and Currys parent locked down its sales figures on core products – a move that could potentially diminish the UK industry's official market value, and which some claim is an attempt to hide information from emergent retail giant Best Buy and its partner The Carphone Warehouse.
DSGi said it would only submit ten per cent of its weekly sales data, and would not release information about PC hardware, software and peripherals at all.
The watchdog's subsequent dismissal of DSGI from its figures will be a blow to PC publishers and peripherals firms that rely on the general sales data for their marketing, and could also affect the UK's official market value, which will be lessened without DSGi's figures.
GfK-ChartTrack managing director John Pinder said: "They [DSGi] didn't want people knowing the sales of their core product. We can't allow retailers to pick and choose what they show us – otherwise we'll end up with a chart of the worst-selling items rather than the bestselling. We're obviously disappointed we have had to drop them from our panel."
When asked if the move had been a direct reaction to Best Buy's big box store launch next Spring, a spokesperson said the firm did not comment on "rumour and speculation regarding our commercial relationships".
However, a source close to DSGi admitted that the firm felt 'exposed' by the figures – and was concerned by Best Buy's ability to monitor its weekly sales.
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