Australians appetite for consumer electronics has not waned according to a new digital lifestyle study which reveals that at the height of the economic downturn in 2009 sales were booming with eight out of 11 categories growing by 11%.
The Canon Consumer Digital Lifestyle Index shows that Australians spent more on consumer technology in 2009 than in any other year despite repeated interest rate rises, flagging consumer sentiment and continued unemployment.
Total spending increased by 3.1% to $5.90 billion in 2009 according to Darren Ryan, General Manager Consumer Product Marketing at Canon Australia. He said “Despite economic changes our appetite for technology is continuing, with our growing sophistication and creativity driving our desire for higher quality,” he said.
He added “The findings bode well for the industry, because they show the potential for future growth that exists for vendors and retailers able to satisfy consumer demand for high-quality outcomes.”
The report claims that the growing penetration of flat screen televisions into Australian homes represents an irreversible shift in the digital lifestyle in terms of consumers’ image-quality expectations. The growing demand for the Full HD 1080p format in particular has highly positive future growth implications for several CDLI sub categories, including Blu-ray hardware, Full HD camcorders and cameras equipped to capture Full HD movies.
The largest growth in the second half of 2009 came from flat screen televisions, with Australian consumers purchasing over 1,381,000 units – the majority being LCD TVs. The number of LCD TVs purchased leapt by 37.5% from 787,000 in 2H 2008 to more than 1,081,000 units in 2H 2009.
Australians’ appetite for digital products overall is likely to continue in 2010, since the majority of the Canon CDLI categories have penetration rates lower than 50%. Furthermore, the categories with higher penetration, such as digital cameras, are trading off any low-end product decline with a remarkable 100% growth (2H 2008 versus 2H 2009) in the high-end market (10 megapixels+, 4x optical zoom+, $400+).
“The results are showing us that industry growth will be sustained through continued innovation and product upgrades that cater to users’ creative desires and quality requirements,” says Ryan. “Recent announcements this year such as 3D television indicate that the next stage of evolution is underway.”
1 The Canon CDLI is independent research commissioned by Canon and compiled by GfK using information on sales figures (units and dollar value) provided by GfK’s retail audit panel.
2 The GfK ConsumerScope camera study tracks and regularly reports on the purchase, ownership and usage of a rolling annual sample of 4,000 recent digital camera buyers.
Highlights
· In FY 2009, Australians spent more on consumer digital technology than in any other year. The total value of products covered in the Canon CDLI increased by 3.1%, from almost $5.72 billion in 2008 to $5.90 billion in 2009
· 2H09 saw the biggest second-half result (almost $3.3 billion) of any half-year period since Canon CDLI commenced in 2003
· Product categories with the highest market size by value are:
o LCD televisions (38.1% of total Canon CDLI sales)
o Plasma televisions (15.9%)
o Games consoles (13.1%)
o Digital still cameras (11.7%)
o Digital media players (9.6%)
· The growing penetration of flat screen televisions into Australian homes has created and demonstrates an irreversible shift in the digital lifestyle in terms of consumers’ image-quality expectations. The growing demand for the Full HD 1080p format in particular has highly positive future growth implications for several CDLI sub categories, including Blu-ray hardware, Full HD camcorders and cameras equipped to capture Full HD movies.
