Technology Newsletter
Looking back at 2011 for Consumer Electronics
As we move into 2012 we are able to look back on one of the most difficult trading periods that the retail industry has seen for more than a decade. The overall Consumer Electronics market has contracted by 14% in comparison to 2010, with the majority of the electronics categories feeling the effects of the continued economic downturn. Comparing the weekly figures (looking at a 5 week on 5 week comparison to minimise the disruption caused by the calendar changes), Consumer Electronics’ market value fell by 15.7% compared to December 2010. This has been further hampered by faltering consumer confidence which fell to -31 points in November 2011.
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The hero for IT in 2011?...the webbook
2011 saw a wave of negativity sweep through the UK’s economic landscape. Increases in VAT, a retracted level of spending, austerity measures from the Government, natural disasters across the globe, retail store closures, scandals across the media and riots; the likes of which had not been seen since the 80s. Perhaps, it is now time to take stock of what this really meant to the IT market in 2011?
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Mobile Accessories market continues to show growth
The total mobile accessories market grew in December to take the largest sales since January 2011. The main drive behind this increase in sales was the protection segment of the market, which is made up of cases and screen protectors. Another area which has experienced growth in the mobile accessories market is wired mobile headsets with a microphone, perhaps as consumers look to purchase headsets which allow both speech and the ability to listen to music through their smartphones.
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A few success stories in an otherwise gloomy picture
Despite having reported extremely negative results for October 2011 and having registered a consistently disappointing sequence of weekly results during November 2011, we were still rocked by the full extent of the latest monthly shortfall (turnover down -25% against November 2010). While we enjoy the positive annual trends of a dwindling number of product categories, we are realistic enough to acknowledge that the overall picture will remain gloomy as long as the TV market continues on its downward spiral of volume declines compounded by a painful drop in average retail prices. This is true for short term (monthly, weekly) and long term (yearly) comparisons against last year.
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Webbooks continue to be IT’s crutch
With the growth of Webbooks (known in the industry as ‘Tablets’) continuing to be well over 100% and in fact still over 200% in both Volume and Value November 2011 on November 2010, this is a major factor in the IT Industry still being in growth. In fact, Total IT including Webbooks grew 4.6% in volume November 2011 on November 2010, and a striking 16% in value over the same period.
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