DVD-Players in Nearly Half of all Households

Despite sluggish sales in the European consumer electronics sector in early 2003, certain newer technologies are achieving rapid growth, according to a report on the global market for technical durable goods, published by GfK to coincide with a major show in Berlin.

Among the products selling well are new TV-display technologies and DVD-Players - the latter are expected to be in 45% of all German households and 43% of British by the end of 2003.

The International Consumer Electronics Show (Internationale Funkausstellung), in Berlin, which took place at the end of August, serves as a showcase for new product launches and is cited by GfK as the main factor fuelling an improvement in the consumer electronics sector in the second half of the year. The first 6 months of the year saw a decline in sales of 3% in Western Europe but overall sales for the year are projected to be 1% up on 2002.

TV-display products account for 48% of sales in the consumer electronics market, and there are a range of newer options for consumers including larger screen sizes, flat screens, LCD and plasma screens, and back projection devices. In Western Europe in the first half of 2003, sales of large screen with a diagonal measurement of over 82 centimeters grew by 12%. Of these large-screen sales, TVs with LCD and plasma screens account for 23% and back-projection TVs 12%.

Sales of DVD-players are also growing fast, with an anticipated 23 million sold in Western Europe in 2003, either as single-players or integrated in hifi-systems - this is the fastest ever take-up of a new consumer electronics product by private households. In addition to a boom in availability of DVD titles, demand was stimulated by a 36% fall in the average price of hardware - currently 137 euros for a simple player. DVD-recorders were launched recently and already account for 11% of DVD sales.

Sales of MP3 players and portable CD-players with a built-in MP3 function have grown by 200% in Western Europe in the year.

The report, which can be downloaded from www.gfkms.com and www.gfk.de , examines the growth potential of these products in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and covers the markets for consumer electronics, digital cameras, information technology and telecommunications.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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