Currys and PC World made £100,000 a minute on Boxing Day

Currys and PC World had a cracking Christmas, with the high-street tech touters -- together known as Dixons Group -- reeling in 5 per cent more sales in November and December than they did last year.

On Boxing Day, as their post-Christmas sales opened, they flogged £100,000 worth of gadgets every single minute. Big savings on digital cameras and TVs pulled in the punters.

"In the UK and Ireland, the Black Friday weekend was remarkably busy, but was followed by a somewhat quieter couple of weeks as we approached Christmas Day," said Dixons group chief executive Sebastian James. "From Boxing Day, the business took off like a rocket -- in fact, Boxing Day itself was the biggest in Dixons' UK history with more than £100,000 flowing through our tills every minute."

The group has faced less bricks-and-mortar competition since the demise of Comet in 2012, but in the face of the continued dominance of Amazon and the economy only just beginning to recover, it's still an impressive performance.

Argos was up 3.8 per cent too, with a big Internet boost -- half of Argos' sales were online, and 20 per cent were via smart phones. "This gives further reinforcement to our plan for Argos to become a digital retail leader," chief executive Terry Duddy told the Telegraph.

Both companies benefited from Christmas stockings groaning with the weight of tablets and kitchen gadgets like Nespresso. It's estimated half of all Britons now own a tablet.

That was reflected in another good news story for British tech over the holiday -- Tesco's Hudl sold 100,000 units in December, taking the low-cost family-friendly slate to nearly half a million sold.

Which gadgets were waiting for you under the Christmas tree? Did you still like to browse traditional tech retailers or is it Internet all the way? Bung a comment in the trolley below, or wheel yourself over to our Facebook page.