In the second quarter of 2015, the demand for smartphones continued at a very high level in Sweden, as reported by GfK Temax. Sales of smartphones grew by around 25%, compared to Q2 2014, and was the main contributor to the overall growth within the technical consumer goods market, which increased by 9%. The market for major domestic appliances, as well as small domestic appliances also showed strong growth while the photography and consumer electronics sectors both fell.
Telecommunications
There was a huge demand for premium-priced smartphones and, as a result, average prices increased. Also, 10% more units were sold in Q2 2015, compared to the same quarter in 2014. As a result, the market value increased by more than 25%.
Small domestic appliances
A majority of the product categories within the SDA market grew in the second quarter of 2015. This growth was partly driven by the fact that consumers purchased more expensive products than previously. In the coffee makers segment, sales of fully automatic espresso makers improved, while sales of cheap capsule machines fell. In the food preparation equipment segment, expensive kitchen machines attracted the interest of consumers and, in the vacuum cleaners segment, the demand for robotic vacuum cleaners increased rapidly.
Major domestic appliances
The MDA sector registered improvement in the second quarter of 2015 and sales increased in all product categories. Dishwashers and built-in ovens were the fastest-growing categories, while freezers and refrigerators saw more modest increases.
Office equipment and consumables
Thanks to increased sales of ink and laser cartridges, the overall market for office equipment and consumables continued to grow in the second quarter. The whole sector improved by more than 10%, compared to Q2 2014, although sales of printers fell by almost 10%.
Information technology
In Q2 2015, a strong increase in sales of laptops of nearly 10%, compared to Q2 2014, was not enough to compensate for falling sales of mediatablets. Sales of desktop PCs also fell in the second quarter, but thanks to impressive growth in sales of accessories such as keyboards, mice, and devices enabling streaming services in particular, the IT sector just avoided decline.
Consumer electronics
Sales of consumer electronics continued its descent in the second quarter of 2015. Several product categories, such as video players, and receivers, fell rapidly, while sales of TVs went down by a few percentage points. Action cameras and devices, used with a smartphone to play music, were the exceptions within the CE sector and showed very positive development.
Photography
The demand for equipment in this sector plummeted once again. Sales went down by nearly 15% in Q2 2015, compared to the same period in 2014.
