While sales in units decreased by 1 percent, the revenue driven by exchange rate effects based on the euro increased by 9 percent. These are the GfK‘s data about the global MDA market in the first six months of 2015 (North America not included). Western and Eastern Europe, China and particularly India from the rank of the BRIC markets were the growth drivers. On the other hand, Brazil and particularly Russia lagged behind last year’s progress in the first half of this year. The forecast for the whole of 2015 for the major domestic appliances market, including North America, accounts for revenue of 163 billion euros.
In terms of value, Western Europe is still considered among the most important markets for white goods. During the first six months of 2015, the market for major domestic appliances recorded an increase of 5 percent in quantity and value. The larger countries’ markets yielded above average strong improvement: Germany boasts sales units growth of 7 percent, Great Britain 6 percent. Besides, in terms of units Spain’s as well as Greece´s home appliance market saw a higher demand than last year during the first half of this year. In fact, in Spain the market grew by 9 percent, in Greece by 12 percent. For the entire year, a sales value of 35 billion euros in Western Europe is forecasted.
Considering the different products, above all sales of heat-pump tumble-dryers rose significantly in almost every Western European country.
In Eastern Europe the sale in units of home appliances became noticeably stronger by 8 percent than in Western Europe. For 2015, the forecast amounts to a sales volume of 15 million appliances. Positive economic development paired with low inflation created a solid foundation in almost every country in the region. The strongest growth of sales units among the larger countries in the amount of 14 percent was reported by Hungary, whose government had issued a subsidy program for efficient refrigerators and freezers. Poland and the Czech Republic, however, also reported clear growth. Contrary to some Western European markets, in most of the Eastern European countries the average revenue also rose. This is driven by the high quality features offered by appliances. In the case of refrigerators, fridge-freezers with No-frost technology as well as side-by-side refrigerators gained popularity. For built-in hobs, consumer demand for flexible induction was stronger.
