Only two sectors booked declines in value in 2013 - the Office Equipment and Photo sectors. The rest displayed growth, especially in Q4. For in-stance, the Consumer Electronics sector showed growth for the year, even after three quarters of consecutive decreases. Sales value in Q4 2013 was up 7.8% over Q4 2012.
Development of the sales volume for technical consumer goods in Romania
Telecommunications
Non-subsidized sales in the Telecommunications sector in Q4 2013 were €169 million, up 21.3%, compared to Q4 2012.
For the entire year, sales rose 17% due to strong Smartphone sales. Fea-ture phone sales declined by double-digits.
Q4 2013 brought attention to a new segment in the Telecommunications sector - Phablets. These are products that incorporate cellular voice and have a display between 5.6 inches and 6.99 inches. Phablet sales are growing quickly and it is still considered a niche segment for those con-sumers who want a product between a Tablet and a Smartphone.
Small Domestic Appliances
The Small Domestic Appliances sector registered 13.1% more value in Q4 2013 compared with the same period of 2012. Black Friday sales contribut-ed to the sector’s quarterly performance, November 2013 being up 27% compared to November 2012. Almost all categories registered a double-digit increase over the same quarter in 2012. In December, the bestselling month for Small Domestic Appliances, consumers continued to shop for Personal Care products, especially for Shavers, and also for Juicers.
2013 sales of Small Domestic Appliances reached €114 million, 9.2% above 2012. There is still optimism for growth, with some key areas contin-uing on a positive trend: Vacuum Cleaners both bagged and bagless, Food Preparation both Hand Blenders and Hand Mixers and Hot Beverage Mak-ers both portioned and full automatic espresso machines.
Consumer Electronics
The last quarter of the year brought good news for the Consumer Electron-ics sector in Romania. An increase of 7.8% in value in Q4 2013, compared to Q4 2012, led to growth of 1.6% year on year. Sales in Q4 2013 reached f €119 million. More than half of sales were made in November, which is now the best-selling month of the year.
Panel TV sales were up, while sales of audio, video, gaming and navigation systems were on the decline.
During promotional periods, especially in November, large screen TVs (42 inches and above were in demand, as well as Smart TVs. In Q4 2013, al-most one in three sales were LCDs equipped with a Smart TV function, while 3D Panel TVs attracted far less demand.
Major Domestic Appliances
The Major Domestic Appliances (MDA) sector maintained growth in the last quarter of 2013, with a 7.7% increase in value, compared with the same period of 2012, reaching €113 million. In Q4 2013, the best performing products: Washing Machines, Tumble Dryers and Dishwashers grew by double-digit rates. The Cooling segment saw increased demand for higher-end features, while sales value of Freezers rose by 10% compared to Q4 2012.
Overall, MDA 2013 sales were €337 million, 5.3% above 2012. Almost all categories rose in terms of sales value, and trends showed a move toward higher-end features in terms of capacity, energy efficiency and new tech-nologies, as well as the trend toward built-in appliances.
Information Technology
When compared to the same period of 2012, the IT sector recorded an increase of 7.6% in Q4 2013 and reached a value of €163 million.
Black Friday and Christmas campaigns lifted sales in the IT category, ex-cept for Desktop computing products. The most significant increases were recorded by Media Tablets (+37%) and Keyboards (+28%). In the Media Tablets segment, entry and mid-range products with a screen size smaller than 9 inches sold well.
Demand for Laptops increased 1% in Q4 2013 compared to the same peri-od of 2012. This segment still represents more than half of the IT market in terms of value.
Overall sales in the IT sector were roughly €455 million in 2013, with a growth rate of 3.9% compared to 2012.
Office Equipment
The market for Printers and Multifunctional Devices declined 3.3% in Q4 2013, compared to 2012 and was worth roughly €10 million.
Inkjet multifunction printers were down 12%, Single Function Laser printers declined 8% and Single Function Inkjet sales were 5% lower. The only segment that remained on the uptrend was Laser Multifunctional devices which recorded an 8% increase in Q4 2013 compared to Q4 2012.
Overall, sales in the sector were €31 million in 2013, down 2% vs. 2012.
Photo
Sales of Digital Still Cameras were sluggish in the summer season and declined 12.6% in the first three quarters of 2013. For Q4 2013, sales were €13 million after a decrease of 13.4% compared to Q4 2012. Black Friday sales were higher than in 2012, however Christmas sales declined com-pared to December 2012.
Total sales for the Digital Camera market were down 12.9% in 2013 com-pared to the previous year.
While sales of cameras with SLRs, which represents half of the value of the Photo segment, were almost flat in Q4 2013 compared with Q4 2012, the sales value of Compacts decreased by 26%.
Summary in table format
Source: GfK TEMAX® Romania, GfK
