According to the data published by GfK Temax, the TCG market in France reached 28,840 million euro in 2015, +0.7% compared to 2014. Although the consumer electronics and photography did not succeed in halting their decline throughout the year, telecommunications and small domestic appliances registered positive results (+13.2% and +2.7% respectively). Considering the fourth quarter of 2015, registered revenue was 9 billion euro, +0.7% compared to the same period of 2014. Consumer electronics and photography achieved the most negative results, the IT and major domestic appliances registered declines of 4.3% and 0.8%, respectively. However, the telecommunications and the Office equipment and consumables sector rose by 12.3% and 4.8%, respectively. Finally, the small domestic appliances recorded a growth of 3.6%. Here are the performances of 4Q 2015.
Major domestic appliances
The MDA sector declined in Q4 2015 – down by 0.8%, compared to the same period in 2014. The sector was held back by lower sales of free-standing products. In addition, the development of heat pump tumble dryers is slowing down and did not compensate for declining sales on standard condensation models. However, sales of built-in products increased, with strong growth in the dishwashers and refrigerators segments. Also, sales of cooking products recovered, with ovens and hoods creating value.
Small domestic appliances
Revenue in the SDA sector reached more than 790 million euro in the last quarter of 2015, a growth of 3.6% compared to Q4 2014. Strong sales in the home care products segments (handstick vacuum cleaners, dental care products, and draught systems) contributed to these positive results and showed significant growth, compared to 2014. On the other hand, hair clippers, female depilation products (intense pulsed light), deep fryers and hot beverage makers registered negative trends. Annual sales in the SDA sector grew by 2.7% and hit 2.46 billion, compared to the previous year.
Information Technology
The fall in sales of tablets continued to impact the global market. However, the notebooks market continued to grow. This results was driven, not only by the increase in sales of PC Hybrids, but also by the good performance in the gaming segment. A craze for gaming benefited other devices, and keyboards recorded an increase of 5% in value. The PC components segment was impacted by fluctuations in the exchange rate which strongly impacted sales. Hard disk drives (HDD) were down by 17%.
Consumer electronics
In Q4 2015 the growth was driven by hi-fi products. Multi-room systems were especially successful – up by 60.5% in terms of revenues, compared to Q4 2014 – which helped to stabilize the market. With growth of 10% in revenue, the soundbars market seems to have finally reached a peak. In Q4 2015, the expected “end-of-year” rebound did not happen, and there was a loss of about 8% in terms of volume, compared to Q4 2014. However, there was an average price increase of 8%, which helped results in value terms. This was mainly driven by the delayed distribution of the 2015 ultra-high definition (UHD) models whose price stabilized at roughly 1,200 euro. The performance of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs also rose in respect of turnover. However, this was at the expense of sales volumes.
Photography
The trends that were observed at the start of 2015, continued in the fourth quarter. The market is still shrinking with a fall of 24%, compared to the same period in 2014. Hybrid cameras moved upmarket with an average price now higher than that for single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. For the first time, action cams registered a decrease of 12% in value, compared to Q4 2014. This was due to an increase in the number of entry-level products.
Telecommunications
In Q4 2015, the smartphones market registered significant double-digit growth through sales of premium handsets via both the retail channels, and the carriers. Products in the low end registered a good performance. Some accessories still performed well in Q4 2015, in particular power packs. Cases and car speaker phones were also successful, particularly during the Christmas period. Smartwatches had a good end to the year, thanks to new products with improved Active Server Pages (ASP). Fitness trackers recorded growth similar to that seen in the rest of the year, and sales volumes doubled.
Office equipment and consumables
There were signs of gradual recovery throughout 2015 and in Q4 there was an increase of 4.8% in value terms, compared to the same period in 2014. Laser multifunctional devices (MFDs) continued to boost the market with a good performance in the business channels, particularly with high-end models. The remarkable growth in sales of original toners in Q3 2015 continued. In addition, sales of inkjet cartridges also drove the market in terms of value. This is due to the increase of the average price per piece, and improved sales of 2-pack (at the expense of the 4-pack format).
