Online and mobile sales exploded, but all the discounts and free shipping offers may well have bled away much of the profits.

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Emerging market sales have exploded as a result.

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App sales have also exploded, marking a major shift away from traditional software and games.

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Car dealers are not as threatened yet by showrooming since online new car sales have not exploded for a host of reasons such as the baseline need for a test drive.

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While sales of smartphones and tablets exploded, the market as a whole actually contracted by 1% in 2012.

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And the number of people working for FireEye has exploded right along with sales growth. 18 months ago, the company had 50 people and as of May 2012, the number was 320.

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According to Belinda Budge, publishing director of Thorsons, Britain's biggest self-help publisher and part of Harper Collins, sales of books about yoga and reiki, an Oriental healing system, have exploded in the past 18 months.

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