The TV market has experienced its first sales growth in value terms in five years, while the Telecommunications category enjoyed a 25 per cent value increase this quarter according to GfK’s latest Temax report.
In the first quarter of 2015 the TV market experienced its first value sales growth since quarter one 2010, GfK reported. The growth was attributed to the popularity of super-large screen TVs and the expanding Ultra HD segment, which now accounts for more than one quarter of the market’s value.
Also helping the TV category’s positive year-on-year value growth is the fact that the comparative period — quarter one 2014 — was one of weak demand following the completion of the digital switch over.
According to GfK, the Telecoms sector experienced a huge 25 per cent value sales growth in the first quarter, driven by the smartphones and wearables segments.
For smartphones, changes in the exchange rate, coupled with new handset launches, saw an average price rise of 15 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. Sales volumes also increased during the period, helping the prepaid sector return to growth.
In wearables, wider ranges, increased distribution and marketing activity drove strong demand, with the overall value of the category increasing almost four-fold on the same quarter last year.
Health and fitness trackers, such as Fitbit and Jawbone, are the largest subsection in wearable category, accounting for nine out of every 10 wearable devices sold. Smart and GPS watches makeup the remainder of sales.
GfK predicts that the strong growth in the Telcoms sector is likely to continue.
Information Technoogy was up just 0.2 per cent after two consecutive quarters of decline. Mobile computing recorded its first double-digit growth since 2009, thanks to a huge surge in volumes of lower-priced models. In contrast, tablet sales continued to decline rapidly. Monitors also showed strong growth in the quarter thanks to the popularity of larger screen sizes.