GfK Retail and Technology
News and Events/News Special/Growth Driven by Innovative Products
February 11, 2012, 19:04
http://www.gfk.com/rt/htdocs/news_events/online_newsletter/gfkrt_ifa_special/index.en.html

Growth Driven by Innovative Products

GfK RT publishes new worldwide sales figures

The worldwide markets for Consumer Electronics, Audio/Video, Photo, IT and Telecommunications are continuing to expand in spite of the crisis. In 2009, consumers will spend 2% more on products in the audio/video, photography, IT and telecommunications segments, with total global expenditure for the year as a whole forecast at EUR 494 billion (USD 706 billion). These are the findings of a continuous survey carried out by GfK Retail and Technology in more than 80 countries.

With sales growth of 8%, Japan is currently the region with the most rapid expansion, followed by Africa with growth of 6% and China with 5%. A decline of 3% in North America and 5% in Europe is expected.

Consumer Electronics in Europe

Chart 1 Europe: CE Turnover By Countries
Click image to enlarge In 2009, European consumers will spend around 11% less on consumer electronics. Aside from the general economic environment, one of the main reasons for this development is the negative sales trend in flat-screen televisions, previously a key pillar of growth. This is due to the rapid fall in average prices, which is more than offsetting the current volume growth. The highly encouraging three-digit growth in the area of Blu-ray players is not enough to compensate for declining sales in the TV sector.

090902 Chart Europe CE Assortment Development

Chart 2 Europe: CE Assortment Development
Click image to enlarge

Information Technology: IT Sector Proves Resilient for the First Half of 2009

Let the back-to-school 2009 season begin! After a tough first half of the year, this is an anxiously awaited month to test the resilience of the demand for IT products. With revenue decrease for EMEA of around 7% for consumer products, but with some sales exceeding expectations in unit terms, the beginning of 2009 has thus far drawn heavily on the reserves of the channels and manufacturers. So far, forecasting where the markets would actually go this year has proven an impossible task. [...]

Emerging from the dark days that summarised the second half of 2008 and its raft of bad news, the first half of 2009 is a tale of two separate periods. The first quarter saw a slow decline in consumer demand until the middle of March on the whole, followed by a slow recovery until the end of June, continuing into the summer...

MDA SDA: Rise in Premium Products Offer Hope to Global Domestic Appliance Markets

In spite of the difficult economic environment, high value products have proved popular with consumers in the home and although widespread growth is scarce, the demand for many premium products has assisted in keeping sales buoyant.

MDA Europe

Most Western European markets show negative trends after the first half of 2009. As an outcome of the overall economic crisis, the UK and Spain are most heavily affected, followed by Greece and Denmark. The only two markets to maintain a positive development are Germany and Austria. [...]

SDA Europe

In the first half of 2009, Small Domestic Appliances there has been a stark contrast in fortune between Western and Eastern Europe. Several key countries in Western Europe have experienced positive growth in value terms including Austria (+7.5%), Switzerland (+6.3%) and Germany (+6.2%). In Eastern Europe the story is different with double-digit declines prevailing. Only Poland recorded positive growth, up 1.8% in value terms...

Photo: European Imaging Markets Face Up to Global Challenges

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Digital camera sales in Europe have declined in the first half of 2009 by 6 percent and 16 percent in terms of volume and value respectively. Western Europe has remained relatively stable whereas the East has been severely impacted, with significant declines in Russia, the Ukraine and the Baltic region in particular...

Telecommunication: Global mobile phone market stagnant at present – with marked geographical variations

The mobile communications sector is demonstrating negative growth on a worldwide basis. Very few regions are currently experiencing positive sales developments.

In the first half of 2009, only India (+1%) and Southeast Asia (+9%) are showing an increase in sales within the mobile and smart phones markets. Sales in the Middle East and Northern Africa (+/- 0%), Sub Sahara (-1%) and China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (-9%) either remain unchanged or are in decline. The European market decreased by 13%...