Smart Life remains the main trend of consumer electronics, as explained by GfK North America experts during CES 2019. According to the latest data, the global market for technical consumer goods (TCG) exceeded the one-trillion mark for the first time in 2018 with sales of 1.01 trillion euro. This is a four percent increase on the previous year. The product segments of telecommunications (+7 percent), small domestic appliances (+7 percent), consumer electronics/photo (+6 percent), and information technology/office equipment (+1 percent) all contributed to this growth in sales. Global sales from major domestic appliances, on the other hand, fell slightly by one percent. «Globally, technical consumer goods – explained Markus Kick, GfK expert on technical consumer goods – achieved sales of more than 1 trillion euro for the first time in 2018. This is a real milestone for trade and industry. The areas of telecommunications, small domestic appliances and consumer electronics proved to be the biggest drivers of sales. We are seeing a trend toward premium products in almost all segments. Consumers are also placing ever more value on connectivity and convenience. Based on this trend, GfK is also expecting solid sales growth in 2019 with an increase of two percent».
But what are the most growing geographical areas?
According to GfK, Asia-Pacific, with a sales share of 42 percent, continued to defend its position on the technical consumer goods market in 2018 as well, while a further 25 percent of sales was achieved in Europe, around 20 percent in North America, seven percent in Latin America, and six percent in Middle East/Turkey/Africa.
Analyzing the segments trends, major domestic appliances (MDA) sales are expected to increase again in 2019 after slight dip. This category continued to be the second-largest segment among technical consumer goods in 2018 with sales of around 177 billion euro, despite a slight decrease in sales of one percent. Overall, around 17 percent of all TCG sales last year was attributed to major domestic appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, washers or dishwashers. Currently trending are multi-function devices and connectivity – the possibility to network devices with one another or control them using a different device.
Small domestic appliances (SDA), instead, achieved global sales of around 86 billion euro in 2018. This is a significant increase of seven percent. Driven by very positive demand in China, sales in Asia/Pacific increased by 13 percent overall. In Latin America, as well as in Middle East/Turkey/Africa, sales grew by ten percent, while growth in Europe was recorded at seven percent. Only in North America did sales decrease slightly, by two percent.
