According to GfK Temax, the total sales value of the technical consumer goods market in Czech Republic grew in the first quarter 2014 by more than 3% compared to the same period in 2013. The majority of sectors supported the positive development. The most dynamic growth was seen in the telecommunications sector with the photography sector showing the steepest decline.
Telecommunications: market continues to growth
The telecommunications market showed growth of 11%, exceeding that in the same quarter of the previous year. Primarily the continuing increased demand for smartphones contributed to this result, especially in the segment with screen sizes of 4 inches and more.
Consumer electronics: positive situation on the TV market
Compared to the same period of the last year, the consumer electronics market showed an increase of 2% in value. The whole sector was, to a large extent, affected by the TV market that grew again after a long period of decline. This growth was caused by a number of factors, including the staging of the Winter Olympic Games and the impact of the November Czech national bank intervention. All of these factors contributed to a positive outlook for the market. Other categories, such as audio home systems, set top boxes or MP3/MP4 players, continued their negative trends.
Photography: slump continues
The digital cameras market declined in terms of value by almost 23%, compared to the same period of the previous year. In particular, fixed-lens cameras and the price erosion of digital SLRs and system cameras contributed to this result.
Small domestic appliances: the market continues to develop positively
The Small domestic appliances market showed positive development in the first quarter of 2014 with a 4.8% growth, compared to the same period of last year. The most significantly growing category was food preparation, while the hot beverage makers and vacuum cleaners segments also continued to grow. The product groups that recorded falls were bread makers, deep fryers and hairstyling appliances.
Major domestic appliances: positive market development since beginning of the year
In the first quarter of 2014, the market for major domestic appliances was positive, with growth of more than 8%. The increase in sales was even for free-standing and built-in appliances. Overall, the market has developed positively across the product groups. The largest annual increases were registered mainly in the tumble dryers and cooling segments.
Information technology: market in slight decline
The information technology market registered a slight drop in the first quarter, compared to the same period of 2013. Negative development was driven by mobile computers as a key category in terms of value. Sales of mediatablets continued to grow. However, this did not manage to compensate for the loss of sales of mobile computers. Other categories such as desk computers and monitors registered moderate increases. There has been an ongoing structure change within mobile computers, where ultra-thin devices performed well, whereas netbooks almost completely disappeared from the market.
Office equipment: positive sales value development
Positive year-on-year sales value development continued also into this year´s first quarter. The total sector revenues bounced by more than 7%, compared to the same period last year. Within the laser market, it was the multifunctional devices segment, in particular, which continued the expansion. The inkjet market has seen a continuous shift of consumer demand towards devices with higher added value, which supports the increasing sector revenues.
