Slight fall in the Western European TCG market

0
2517

According to GfK Temax, in the fourth quarter of 2016 the Western European technical consumer goods market contracted by 2.8%, compared to the same quarter in 2015. The market was again affected by the GBP/Euro exchange rate. Only the small domestic appliances grew by 3%. All other sectors declined in value ranging from -0.2% to -6.1%. The TCG market in Western Europe generated a revenue of 63.6 billion Euro in Q4 2016 and 213.4 billion in 2016. Here are the performances of the different categories.

WESTERN EUROPE: TECHNICAL CONSUMER GOODS
(SALES VALUE – TREND)
[table id=77 /]

Major Domestic Appliances
The built-in appliances are the winner of the fourth quarter of 2016: especially dishwashers and hobs with flexible induction are driving the markets. Among the freestanding appliances, the washing machines above 7 Kg load capacity and heat pump tumble dryers grew significantly. Overall, freezers showed a slight value decline – not surprisingly as sales are normally higher in the summer months.

Small Domestic Appliances
As regards to the small domestic appliances sector, a positive development was registered in Q4 2016 in Western Europe. The data show ongoing growth of rechargeable hand-stick vacuum cleaners, within the price tiers 150-200 euro. Electrical heating appliances like thermal transmitters, fan heaters and radiators were also in favor. Hair care products like pistol grip hair dryers and heated brush straighteners also drove the SDA market in Western Europe. On the other hand, “classical” food-preparation appliances’ demand fell (e.g. kitchen machines, hand mixer and hand blenders) and cylinder vacuum cleaners could not perform so well as expected.

Consumer electronics
The Austrian and Finnish markets registered a double-digit growth driven by similar value increase triggered by PTV and loudspeakers. The British, French and Spanish markets fell, which was caused by the very poor demand for car and portable audio segments.

Photography
High value cameras (above 1,000 euro) achieved a slight growth in value terms in Europe. The above resulted in an over 10% value growth in Q4-2016 in the Dutch market. However, the Photo sector in total shrank. In addition to the weak average performance of digital cameras, also the accessories segment drove the markets downward.

Information Technology
Gaming computer models showed a strong and persistent growth, despite the general market trend in computing. However, the overall European IT market had a disappointing last quarter and 2016, too. Media tablets generated double-digit level falls in sales due to ongoing customer saturation.

Telecommunications
Demand for smartphones was strong in Great Britain during November’s Black Friday promotions. Sales value was slightly positive due to an increasing demand for higher priced top tier devices.
Wearables are a growth driver for Telecoms with a solid double digit growth of +30% in Western Europe. However, overall the Spanish, German, Danish and British markets declined in sales.

Office Equipment & Consumables
SPP or Small Photo Printers are still a small market but continue to grow and are even doubling their share. Unfortunately, overall, the sector cannot succeed in total and is not showing a positive trend. But the decline is small.

WESTERN EUROPE: TECHNICAL CONSUMER GOODS
(SALES VALUE)
[table id=78 /]