Consumer Electronics in Greece
Executive Summary
Strong sales growth over the review period
In 2003 the Greek consumer electronics market was worth around EUR633
million, corresponding to about 2 million units. The review period compound
annual growth rate in volume terms was nearly 7%, while current value sales
increased by nearly 12% CAGR. From 2002 overall consumer electronics volume
sales gained more than 6% while current value sales more than 17%. The higher
increase in value terms is due to the fact that Greek prices are currently 7%
lower than the European average, and alignment of prices among all European
countries is expected in the medium term. In addition, consumers have been
willing to pay slightly higher prices for enhancements to consumer electronics.
Market peculiarities
Digital televisions, digital cameras, and MP3 players saw the greatest volume
increase during 2003 in Greece. Although MP3 players have shown a large year on
year rise, this product has not performed as expected. Greeks have shown a
preference for MP3 players combined with CD players, and not the hard disc and
flash memory types.
In home theatre products, although there is an affluent consumer segment that
purchases the best, most expensive products available, demand remains relatively
low. Furthermore, it seems that Greeks still have a preference in VCRs over DVD
players. This is mainly due to the fact that even today many more titles are
available on video than on DVD. Another reason is that the cost of purchasing
VCRs is lower, and also when buying and/or renting titles.
Sony maintains leadership
Sony remained the leading consumer electronics brand in Greece by a
considerable margin, holding nearly a third of overall volume sales. As in many
other countries around the world, Sony is regarded to be of exceptionally high
quality among many Greek prices and thus worth its higher than average unit
price. Moreover, Sony maintains a presence in nearly every aspect of the Greek
consumer electronics market, which further bolsters the brands share.
Budget brands make a push
Even though Sony -a premium brand -further consolidated its leadership of
Greek consumer electronics during 2003, several slightly more affordable brands
also made share gains during 2003. These included JVC, Samsung, Thomson, and
Sony Corps own Aiwa. These brands increasingly appealed to Greek consumers due
to their competitive price positioning, offering good quality products at
affordable prices. Though they were unable to stop Sony from increasing its
share, they did contribute to share losses for other premium brands as Philips
Pioneer between 2002 and 2003.
Specialist multiples gobble up competition
Distribution of consumer electronics is dominated by specialist multiples,
which hold approximately 85% of total consumer electronics volume sales in
Greece. This high percentage has been achieved after progressive mergers and
acquisitions of smaller specialist independents over the course of the review
period. Carrefour, the only hypermarket chain in Greece, held 14% of consumer
electronics retail volume.
Future growth expected
The Greek consumer electronics market is expected to continue to demonstrate
notable growth in 2004, with one particularly important factor being that during
this year the Olympic Games will be held in Athens. Overall value gains should
continue to outpace those of volume between 2003 and 2008 as prices continue to
increase to align with the rest of the European Monetary Union. | 
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