According to GfK Temax, the technical consumer goods market in France registered an increase of +4.5% in 2016 compared to 2015. In the fourth quarter of the year the growth was +0,7 percent. The  telecommunications and the small domestic appliances were the best performers in Q4 with a growth of 4.9% and 6.5% respectively. However, four of the other sectors recorded single digit falls in the fourth quarter.
Major Domestic Appliances
In the MDA sector, wine cabinets have shown a significant growth, and the tumble-dryers have remained positive via the heat pump technology only. Many categories have faced bad results: the most penalized ones were cooking appliances, dishwashers (fully integrated segment excepted) and freezers. Washing machines and cooling appliances have witnessed a more balanced downturn, thanks to the dynamism of washer-dryers and multidoor refrigerators.
FRANCE: TECHNICAL CONSUMER GOODS
(SALES VALUE – TREND)
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Small Domestic Appliances
Innovation is always a driver for SDA on personal care, so heated straightening brush and hybrid groomer achieved good results. Kitchen products like multicooker, foodprocessor and juice extractor had again an important role for the Christmas gifts and the vacuum cleaners saw a significant development thanks to the handsticks.
Consumer Electronics
TVs registered an incredible Black Friday and the Hi-fi multiroom is still pretty dynamic and records an increase of one digit, while the Docking Mini Speakers are pretty stable. The segment saw difficulties for the “in car” market and especially for car navigation that achieved another negative quarter. The Audio Home Systems are experiencing a severe decrease in value in the fourth quarter 2016.
Photography
The turnover for digital cameras registered a slight increase: lenses benefit from this upmarket movement and increased their turnover too. Camcorders are slightly decreasing in value due to a more and more entry offer for action cams at Christmas.
Information Technology
Security and network products are increasing as they seem more and more attractive for consumers.
Mobile computing and peripherals are benefiting from the premium’s dynamic, driven by ultramobility and gaming. However, three categories are declining: desk computing, mediatablets and multidisc drive.
Telecommunications
The smartphone segment keeps driving the market in value. Besides, both wearables segments (health & fitness trackers and smart watches) display strong growth at double digit. The market for smartphones and mobile phones marked a drop in volume in the fourth quarter 2016.
Office Equipment & Consumables
Single-function printers permitted to record good result in Q4 2016, especially color printers. On the other hand, a strong price drop was registered for MFD Inkjet mainly due to aggressive prices during back to school and end-of-year periods. Besides, cartridges sales revenue is still impacted by price drop of low cost unbranded products.
FRANCE: TECHNICAL CONSUMER GOODS
(SALES VALUE)
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