TV demand from major sport events and audio segment drove momentum, but will not bring the market back to black
Nuremberg, September 3, 2024 – The Consumer Electronics (CE) industry hoped for recovery in 2024, after another negative sales year in 2023. With major sporting events typically driving demand, all eyes in the industry were on the run-up to the European Football Championship.
“The European Football Championship gave the TV market in Europe some momentum but failed to drive the global market into the black. In the first half of the year, revenues were 3 percent lower than in the same period last year,” explains Jan Lorbach, GfK’s insights expert for the Consumer Electronics industry.
According to the NIQ On-Premise Consumer Pulse Report*, more than half of the people in Germany, where the European Football Championship took place, planned to watch the games at home. Especially these types of consumers who prefer to watch major sporting events in their own living rooms are opting for an exceptional viewing experience and therefore intend to upgrade their sets to larger TVs. GfK global panel data shows that revenue of 70-inch and larger screens grew 14 percent year-on-year from January 2024 to June 2024. There is a clear premiumization trend, but the TV market overall, which is a significant part of CE, hasn’t yet managed to return to positive results in 2024.
Mixed performance in audio, but remains bright spot in CE
While headphones remain a growth area (plus 2 percent in revenue), their positive impact has not been sufficient to offset the losses in the TV segment.
However, within headphones overall, Wireless Headbanded Headphones are the real winner, growing 20 percent year-over-year from January 2024 to June 2024. Smart Audio, on the other hand, has lost momentum after consistent revenue growth in recent years, declining 8 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Outlook
NIQ-GfK experts predict that the global Consumer Electronics market as a whole will record negative revenue for the full year 2024 compared to last year.
“Value for money will remain key for consumers. To meet their needs, retailers and manufacturers are advised to focus on real innovation and implement a consumer-centric, target-group-specific strategy to properly communicate their product benefits,” summarizes Jan Lorbach.
About the method
Through its retail panels, GfK regularly collects POS (point of sales) data in more than 70 countries worldwide for the consumer electronics, photography, telecommunications, information technology, office equipment, and small and large household appliances sectors. All figures are according to GfK panel market, with global data excluding North America and presented in US dollars NSP (non-subsides price), except stated otherwise.
* Germany On Premise Consumer Pulse Report, CGA by NIQ, March 2024
Media contact: Eva Böhm, public.relations@smb.nielseniq.com
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