Germany’s consumer electronics market began the year positively; revenues were up 2% YoY in Q1, to €6.7 billion, according to the GFU’s Cemix data.
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 down again, falling 3.8% (€2.4 billion) YoY. This was a smaller decline than seen in Q1’14. Private-use telecom products (including smartphones and feature phones) were up sharply (19.5%), to a value of €2.4 billion; and private-use IT products (such as tablets and notebooks) fell 7.8% to just under €2 billion.
Classic CE recorded sales growth in the areas of games consoles (up 28.5%); accessories (21.5%); camcorders (17.2%); and home audio (4.6%). TV sales fell 4.3%, to 1.9 million units, taking €1.1 billion. Other areas declined: personal audio was down 1.9%, followed by in-car multimedia (5.5%); STBs (6.5%); video (13.8%); and digital cameras (16.2%).
More than 6 million smartphones were sold in Q1’15, marking an 11.6% volume rise. Revenues rose even faster, growing 21.6% to €2.3 billion. The private-use IT group saw desktop PCs rise, but only 1.9%; the positive sales growth of last year could not be continued. Tablets and laptops fell 21.9% and 5.2%, respectively.
Researchers expect a stable year for consumer electronics sales, with no major sporting events to boost the market.
