GfK findings on the market for portable consumer electronic goods and navigation devices – first half of 2013
Nuremberg, 4 September 2013 – Particularly in Europe, headphones and Bluetooth loudspeakers are more popular than ever. Year-on-year, consumers in Western Europe spent 2.5 percent more on headphones in the first half of 2013. Portable radios are also experiencing a strong upsurge. In Germany, demand grew by 6 percent. In contrast, the market for in-car electronics declined by 15 percent in the first half of the year and the demand for portable navigation devices went down overall. These are GfK’s findings on the market for portable consumer electronic goods and navigation devices, which are published to coincide with the IFA 2013 trade fair in Berlin.
The conventional radio is far from becoming extinct. Especially in Germany, radios are still very popular. Driven by the growth in digital radio and internet radio devices, sales in this market rose slightly by 1 percent. The emphasis here is on portable radios. In Germany alone, the market grew by 6 percent. Compared with the previous year, standard radio devices with digital radio tuners (DAB + chip) recorded sales growth of more than 60 percent. They are therefore one of the big growth drivers. The demand for small mobile boom boxes with a built-in radio has also developed positively in Germany, increasing by nearly four percent.
Portable speakers, to which wireless music or other audio content can be transmitted, for example via Bluetooth, conquer currently the European markets. Here the emphasis is on the wireless and portable sound experience. Other features, such as a hands-free function, make these products an ideal accessory to smartphones and tablets. Growth in the market for portable speakers can be observed in all European countries. In the first half of 2013, sales of docking loudspeakers were also up 13 percent compared with 2012. Turnover of Bluetooth-only loudspeakers have even more than doubled.
Although the volume of stereo headphones sold, with or without a microphone, has fallen by 1 percent, consumers in Western Europe spent 2.5 percent more in total on this product from January to June 2013. This reflects the continuing positive price trend for this market. A much higher increase in value of just under 9 percent emerges if the UK market is omitted from the above analysis. In this case, the UK bucks the generally positive trend with a decrease of 15 percent in turnover. The key growth drivers for Western Europe in the headphone segment are, on the one hand the shape of the headband and, on the other, the signal transmission via Bluetooth. In addition, headphones with a digital UHF transmission posted a value plus of 19 percent.
The demand for MP3 and MP4 players continues to suffer in the face of competition from smartphone. Niche markets are still emerging in the area of sport or in use as a large portable music database. Nevertheless, volume sales of this market dropped by nearly 30 percent on the same period of last year.
Market for in-car electronics on the decline
In Western Europe, consumers are reluctant to kit out their cars with additional equipment. Automobile manufacturers are offering more and more accessories and smartphone are also becoming increasingly important in cars. In the first half of 2013, the market for in-car electronics suffered a drop in sales of 15 percent, while the German market held up the best with a minus of 8 percent. Some segments developed more positively than in the previous year, for example the 2 DIN Moniceiver. Niche market and innovation are both areas of opportunity for manufacturers.
Owing to the increasing improvement in the standard equipment supplied with a car, the upgrade market for car audio continued to fall, with a minus of 15 percent in sales. Despite this, there are also some innovative segments where sales have risen. Devices with a built-in Bluetooth function to enable the smartphone and its content to be utilized more effectively grew by 6 percent. Demand for mecha-less devices and devices without a CD drive, but with connection options for MP3 players and USB sticks or SD cards, were up 36 percent. Almost one in five car radios sold in Western Europe now belongs to this category. In 2012, it was one in eight. The markets for car vision and fixed navigation are still down in terms of sales, with minus 16 percent. However, prices are stable as consumers are increasingly investing in higher quality products such as Car Vision 2 DIN devices.
Manufacturers of portable navigation devices focus on innovation
The market for portable navigation devices has been under pressure for some time now and last year it continued to lose ground, especially in Southern Europe. However, there were still some very positive developments. In Germany and the UK, the decline slowed considerably compared with previous years. Innovative products are helping to stabilize turnover in the market, as they sell better and at a higher price. Innovations are taking place in various areas: bigger displays (e.g. volume sales of five inch models increased 11 percent), multi-touch displays, free map updates (e.g. lifetime maps that are experiencing almost a tripling of both the volume and value sales on the market) as well as access to more and up-to-date travel information via digital radio, Bluetooth connection via mobile phones or by built-in SIM cards.
The method
Through its retail panel, GfK regularly collects data on TV and video devices, portable audio products, camcorders, hi-fi and home cinema systems as well as in-car electronics in more than 90 countries worldwide. For the Western European market, this evaluation is based on information from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK for the first half of 2013.
About GfK
GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with around 13,000 experts working to discover new insights into the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating and using the latest technologies and the smartest methodologies to give its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the world: their customers. In 2012, GfK’s sales amounted to €1.51 billion.
To find out more, visit www.gfk.com