Abstract
Why buy this report
- Get insight into trends in market performance
- Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
- Identify market and brand leaders and understand the competitive
environment
Product coverage
In-car consumer electronics (aftermarket); In-home consumer electronics;
Portable consumer electronics
Executive summary
Value growth boosted by consumers choosing more sophisticated products
The consumer electronics market in Spain is in a healthy state, as
demonstrated by growing consumption rates. Value sales growing slightly more
rapidly than volume as, because of a fall in average unit prices, consumers
bought more sophisticated (often digital) products.
Many factors helped to underpin strong growth, including the good economic
situation in the country, more affordable prices and the fact that Spaniards
like consumer electronic products. However, not all consumer electronics are
so enthusiastically welcomed. There is no doubt that some sectors boost the
market while others hamper it.
Among the most successful products, there are flat TV screens, which
experienced well above average growth over recent years. Both desktop and
laptop computers enjoyed healthy growth as did portable MP3 players, which
experienced surprising growth rates in 2004 and 2005.
Demographic and social changes
Demographic changes in Spain over the last 4-5 years also had an impact on the
market. The increasing immigrant population affected the acquisition of
electronic goods that are deemed absolutely necessities in western society.
Spain is home to some 4.2 million immigrants and the fact that prices
decreased helped to make consumer electronic products more affordable,
particularly as immigrants still have very limited incomes. As they become
more integrated into Spanish society and their wage levels rise, they will
form a large target market for more sophisticated consumer electronic goods.
Economy drives sales up
One of the fundamental factors underlying the solid growth in the consumer
electronics market was the positive development of the Spanish economy during
the review period. During a period of economic slowdown among the most
important EU countries, Spain managed to maintain solid GDP growth. The
development of its employment market, with nearly four million new jobs
created in the five years to 2005 was the key factor behind this healthy
performance. Average incomes, consumer confidence and purchasing power all
increased, almost reaching the average set by EU-15, thus boosting demand for
consumer electronic products.
Portable MP3 players and mobile phones rule
Portable consumer electronics grew well in volume terms, although at a slowing
rate compared to the review period. The slowdown in the pace of growth of
mobile phones and portable MP3 players was mostly behind this trend. Albeit
from a lower base, photo printers reached the most important growing rate
whereas in actual terms mobile phones saw the strongest growth in 2006. With a
penetration of 95% among Spaniards, mobile phones are part of every day
Spanish life. The growth of the more advanced models (including a camera, MP3,
personal agendas) may mark the further development of the consumer electronics
market in the coming years.
Slowing growth in the forecast period
During the forecast period, the consumer electronic market is expected to
increase in volume terms by 8%, reaching 53 million units in 2011. The
increasing interest in new technologies among Spaniards, good economic
performance and sustained price drops will be key factors boosting growth. On
the other hand, the trend towards new products offering many solutions (mobile
phones with portable radio, portable MP3 player, digital camera and PDA) will
be a key factor hampering further growth in portable in related subsectors.
The growing maturity of some key subsectors during the review period (such as
DVD players, portable MP3 players and digital cameras) will be another
important negative factor for the market in volume terms.
Different leaders to different sectors
Each manufacturer has its particular focus. In Spain, brands are traditionally
associated with a particular sector or subsector and manufacturers of these
brands maintain their leadership positions, but it is quite difficult to open
these brands to new subsectors where other brands are dominant, which means
that sector and subsector leadership remains largely unchanged.
Spaniards associate a brand with a particular product in their mind. For
example, Sony is a company present in several markets, but in Spain Sony is
the leader in televisions with a share of around 28% but ranks only third in
cameras because Olympus and Canon are more recognised camera brands. Another
example is Toshiba, which ranks third in portable computers, but only sixth in
TVs and projectors, because they are less known in this subsector.
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