Smartphones have overtaken flat panel TV’s as the hot product for Xmas according to new GFK data which reveals a 44% lift in the value of Smartphone sales this year. During the same period notebook sales have fallen.
Smartphones have overtaken flat panel TV’s as the hot product for Xmas according to new GFK data which reveals a 44% lift in the value of Smartphone sales this year. During the same period notebook sales have fallen.
The GfK Temax report reveals that telecommunications products are hot compared with 2010 when consumers were still tipping money into flat panel TV’s.
Across all categories, telecommunications and IT products came out on top with 12.3 per cent growth.
GfK executives said “the smartphone market is now unquestionably the single largest category within the Australian Technical Consumer Goods industry”.
“Despite a 50% increase in the number of models available for purchase, the category continues to be heavily concentrated,” GFK said. “The top three selling models the Apple iPhone, the HTC Sensation and the Samsung Galaxy S 2 account for over half of the total value of the category. More than one in six smartphones this quarter were sold in the relatively new sub-$150 price band; a band which is almost entirely dominated by pre-pay purchases. Within the $150+ segment, however, pre-pay accounts for less than one in ten units sold.
GFK said that netbook sales were down over the Q3 2011 compared to 2010, while eBook reader sales have nearly tripled.Since Q3 2010. At the same time the number of brands in eBook category has also risen from 2 to 15 as Companies like Sony move to take on the popular Kindle.
Overall consumer electronics sales fell in value by 10.9 per cent and digital photography by 13.5 per cent as consumer move to buying goods online.
A confidential Canon report seen by 4Square Media indicated that the Japanese digital camera Company has lost 32% of thir Australian consumer sales to online during the past 12 months.
According to GfK the decline in CE products is a direct result of a fall in flat panel values – one of the largest categories in CE, and one that experienced double-digit unit growth and double-digit value decline in 2011.
“Unit sales were driven both by low-end promotions and the growth of super-large screens (50″+). In fact, the shift to larger screen sizes meant a flattening in the overall average price for the category, though the price erosion within each screen size continued apace.
“As larger screen sizes usually come with higher specifications as standard, the growth at this higher-end has also fuelled a growth in 3D and Smart TV. The value share of 3D has more than doubled since quarter 3, 2010, and web content now accounts for over half the value of the category.”
