Decline in the German Technical Consumer Goods Market in 3Q16

The German technical consumer goods market declined in the third quarter of 2016 by 4 percent, compared to the same quarter in 2015. The total value of the market was € 13.3 billion. Four of the seven sectors declined, with the former presenting the largest fall by 16.7 percent.

The Consumer Electronics market registered a fall of 6.9 percent in Q3 2016, compared to the same quarter in 2015.  The audio segment continued its positive development. In particular, the connected audio products category profited from consumers’ interest in streaming. Overall, the market for TVs suffered a double-digit decline.

In Q3 2016, the Photography market fell again, this time by 16.7 percent, compared to 2015’s third quarter. However, the sector did benefit from consumer interest in high-quality photographic products, fueled by the photokina fair in Cologne in September. Also, new models in the single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras segment boosted sales, and the tripods and binoculars categories registered positive results.

The Major Domestic Appliances sector improved slightly in the third quarter of 2016 (up by 0.3 percent). This was because of stronger demand for dishwashers and cooling products, compared to Q3 2015. Significant demand was noted in the ‘side-by-side’ refrigerators category. Also, the popularity of upright freezers (90cm) contributed to the improvement.

Q3 2016 saw a modest increase in the German Small Domestic Appliances sector, up by 2.5 percent, compared to the same quarter in 2015. The vacuum cleaners segment registered a healthy increase (up by 7.9 percent). This was due to a significant rise in sales of robotic vacuum cleaners.  Strong demand was also reported in the low-oil fryers category.

With the exception of software products, all IT segments returned negative results in Q3 2016. Overall, the sector was down by 10.6 percent, compared to 2015’s Q3. Both the desktop and the mobile computing products segments declined significantly, as did the mediatablets category. Media books showed a strong upward trend, albeit with a very low base.

In the Telecommunications sector screen sizes between 5 and 5.5 inches remained the most important segment in the smartphones segment which increased by 5.7 percent, compared to Q3 2015. Core wearables again registered growth in value, up by 63.4 percent. In particular, smartwatches performed well.

All product groups in the Office Equipment and Consumables sector declined in Q3 2016, except for scanners, data/video projectors (HD versions), and lettering machines. The positive trend registered in the scanners segment (up by 8.3 percent) came from the document scanners category.