OREANDA-NEWS. August 30, 2012.  The overall Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) market in Western Europe achieved a sales volume of €43.4 billion in Q2 2012. This corresponds to an increase of 4.6 percent compared to Q2 2011. As for the first half of 2012, sales amounted to €89.5 billion and showed a slight decline of 0.8 percent. Countries surveyed in GfK TEMAX® Western Europe improved well in this quarter, with the exception of Greece, Portugal and Spain.

The Telecommunication (Telco) sector continued its growth, achieving an 18.1 percent increase. The SDA a nd IT sectors surveyed in GfK TEMAX® Western Europe showed a healthy single digit growth rate, while Office Equipment and Consumables showed a slight value drop.

Telecommunication: Sector continues to be growth driver in Q2

With a sales value increase of 18.1 percent, the Western European Telco sector achieved the strongest growth of all sectors within the GfK TEMAX® in Q2 2012. Telco sales reached €5.2 billion in this period. This sector achieved cumulated growth for the first half year of 12.6 percent and its sales value amounted to €10.5 billion. With the exception of Greece and the UK, developments in all countries showed significant growth.

The majority of the markets in Western Europe still have not reached a maximum penetration for Smartphones and so benefitted from consumers switching from Mobile Phones to these high tech devices. In the summer season in particular, big and crystal clear displays, GPS chips, and excellent photographic functions, such as uploading files quickly to social networks, were important. In addition, the ability to surf the internet while being away from home remains a huge selling point.

Small Domestic Appliances: Recovery in the second quarter

Western European consumers spent a total of €3.2 billion on Small Domestic Appliances in Q2 2012. This corresponds to a sales increase of 7.7 percent, compared with Q2 2011. As for the first half year results, the market value stands at €6.8 billion with growth of 2.3 percent. On a country level, developments were varied again, with a clear north-south decline. The best performing markets were Belgium, France, Germany and the UK.

Q2 2012 was also successful in offsetting the losses of the first three months. This was due to great performance from Food Preparation appliances such as traditional Kitchen Machines, Liquidizers, Hand Mixers and Hand Blenders. 
Information Technology: Growth through innovative segments

The IT sector demonstrated a strong improvement once again, rising by 6.4 percent in Q2 2012. This corresponds to a sales volume of €13.1 billion and a 1.9 percent increase for the first two quarters of the year, which amounted to €27.3 billion. Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK achieved single digit positive growth rates between April and June, while the Belgium and Swedish IT markets rose by 13.9 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

IT markets in Western Europe are currently characterized by strong saturation within the main product areas such as Desk and Mobile Computers as well as Monitors. However, growing segments like Media-Tablets (e.g. the iPad) led to positive growth rates in Q2 2012 for the whole IT market. Private consumers, in particular, are mainly interested in these products, but Media-Tablets are also becoming more popular within the business sector.

The increasing demand for Media-Tablets also impacted on IT Peripheries and IT Accessories, providing new impulses for the IT sector.