The positive trend in consumer electronics (CE) sales in Germany has continued. Compared to the first nine months of 2013, sales to September 2014 were up 2.5%. The Consumer Electronics Market Index (Cemix), published by the GFU, has shown that total revenues reached more than €18.9 billion, compared to just under €18.5 billion in Q1-Q3 2013.
Cemix data is divided into three sections: Classic CE, Private-Use Telecom Products and Private-Use IT Products. Sales of classic CE products – including items such as TVs and STBs – were once again down, falling 3% YoY to €7 billion – although this was a lower fall than the 4% in the first half of the year. Private-use telecom products (including smartphones and feature phones) were up 3.7%, to more than €6.2 billion; and private-use IT products (such as tablets, monitors and notebooks) climbed 8.8%, to €5.7 billion.
TV sales were stable, at €3.2 billion; however, rising unit sales (up 8.4% to 5.7 million) indicate falling ASPs. STBs (-17.1%), video (-11.2%), camcorders (-8.4%), digital cameras (-22.6%), personal audio players (-19.8%) and in-car multimedia products (-1.8%) also saw falling revenues in the classic CE sector. However, home audio (4%), accessories (21.2%) and game consoles (82.2%) rose.
Smartphones continued to dominate private-use telecom products. More than 16.6 million smartphones were sold, a 7.2% rise. Revenues rose 5.6% YoY, to €5.9 billion.
Once again, almost all private-use IT product categories saw sales and revenue increases. Desktop PCs rose 28.6% with revenues up 22.5%; tablets were up 24.5% with revenues up 11.5%; and projectors climbed 49% with a revenue increase of 46.2%.
The GFU expects a continued positive trend in the market at the end of the year, and therefore an overall YoY increase of 2%.
