Twelve months of growth, for both big and small appliances, characterized the French market last year. Forecasts on the future are obviously uncertain.
by Benno Scharf
France counts 67 million inhabitants, with a per head income of about 45,000 dollars in 2019. It is also the second destination of the Italian export of both white and brown goods. The French economy is deemed the second in Europe, just preceded by Germany.
Tab. 1. Sales of white goods in France (1000 units)
n.a. = not available
Source: Gifam (Groupement Interprofessionel des Fabricants d’Appareils d’Equipement Ménager)
The market of white goods
“After a stability year in 2018, the household appliance industry scored a very positive dynamics in 2019. This result is made even more important by the fact that the global trend for the home furniture lives a slight downturn phase (- 0.7%)” Brigitte Petit, President of Gifam trade association, so comments. “Household appliance manufacturers once more show their innovation skills to propose more and more efficient and durable products, meeting consumers’ expectations and concerns”. 2019-year marked the beginning of a new recovery for French white goods. 69 million appliances in all were sold, of which 15 million big and 54 million small ones. This results in an installed fleet of around 206 million big appliances and 485 million small ones, besides about 90 million heat appliances.
The global growth was by 3.7% in 2019. The total value amounted to 8.8 billion Euros: 5.4 due to big appliances and 3.4 to small ones.
All big appliances, with the exception of the only stoves, registered a growth in 2019. In the ambit of big appliances, the highest percentages are achieved by dishwashers, cellars, suction hoods and built-in ovens, whose survey however includes mini-ovens, too. Among small appliances stand out ovens and epilators, while the gradual replacement of standard filter coffeepots with espresso or pod models is going on. The high diffusion rate also of “voluptuary” appliances mirror the nation’s economic well-being.
Brown goods
A GfK survey, published by ViPress.net, indicates in 4.4 million units the number of TV sets sold in France in 2019, with a – 4.0% drop versus 2018. They are joined by 5.0 million Hi-Fi, 4.8 audios, 2.7 photo-videos and 11.2 million headsets and other audio and video material. The global downturn versus 2018 was by about – 5%. TV sets constituted almost 2 billion Euros in value, the other mentioned products about 2.5 billions together, for 4.5 billions in all: -5 % compared to 2018.
Prospects
In 2019, the 1.2% growth was expected for the French economy. Then, the Coronavirus crisis has upset all forecasts. Gifam considers a kickback on household appliances unavoidable, too, but they believe it will be possible to assess its entity only after summer.
Tab. 2 Sales of some small appliances in France (1000 units)
n.a. = not available
Source: Gifam
