OREANDA-NEWS. March 09, 2012. With 22% year on year growth, the end of 2011 turned out to be poorer than expected for the Ukrainian Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) market. 

Growth was experienced in all sectors in Q4 2011, excluding Office Equipment (OE), Telecommunications (Telco) and Major Domestic Appliances (MDA), which led to an 8% increase over the same period of 2010. IT and Photo were the most influential sectors, with increases of 24% and 36% respectively. Consumers Electronics (CE) added around 8% to its volume.
Major Domestic Appliances: growth rate deceleration

The MDA sector in Q4 2011 did not live up to the expectations of manufacturers’, declining by 3% compared to the previous quarter as well as the same period of last year. Annual growth of 13% was generated primarily in the first three quarters of the year. The majority of the MDA segments, however, showed positive growth when compared with 2010. Tumble dryers and dishwashers were the only exception here, with all other products seeing increases from 8% to 25%.

In some instances however, positive annual figures were not accompanied by growth in Q4 2011. Refrigerators declined by almost 5% against Q4 2010, while freezers, with an annual increase of 25%, witnessed a 9% drop.  
Telecommunications: Smartphones show increases

In Q4 2011 Telcom products (mobile phones, smartphones, traditional telecommunications and faxes) sold UAH 2.236 million. Smartphones remained the main driver of the sector and was the only segment to demonstrate positive growth. A 59% growth in sales units had a significant impact on the sector and accounted for almost half of the sector as a whole, whereas average prices remained unchanged.

Sales of mobile phones in contrast to smartphones continued to decline and during the whole year lost nearly 20% along with a 10% decrease in Q4. Traditional Telcom products continued to display negative dynamics. Thus in Q4, stationary phones and faxes accumulated UAH 41 and 8 million respectively, a decline of around 20% for each segment. Such dynamics caused a 1% decline for the entire sector when compared with the same quarter of previous year and reflected in 19% yearly development.
Office equipment: Consistency due to multifunctional devices

In 2011, the OE sector totaled UAH 1.1 billion, which is 14% more than in the previous year. However, while Q4 2011 proved to be more stable, it declined by 1% when compared to the respective period of last year. The biggest group in terms of sales was still multifunctional devices (MFD), with yearly growth of 18% but with a minor quarter reduction of 1%. MFD continued to partly substitute habitual printers, hence why this group demonstrated a negative quarter dynamics in 1%. The sales of scanners remained scarcely unchanged – UAH 35 million. 
Small Domestic Appliances: Solid growth

Small Domestic Appliances (SDA) showed substantial growth in 2011. Compared with the previous year, growth amounted to 14%, with a unit value of UAH 2.67 billion. Positive acceleration was registered in every SDA groups with the exception of deep fryers, which since Q3 2011 have demonstrated negative dynamics. This year’s hit was the hot beverage makers, particularly portioned espresso machines, whose share currently totals more than a half of all espresso machines. Judging by the growth rate of 47%, which was the biggest among all groups SDA, consumers are still taking an interest in these devices. Hair styles happened to be second in terms of growth rates group besides coffee machines; 26% acceleration was the highest rate amongst all hair care devices. Vacuum cleaners led the SDA sector, with bagless becoming more popular. For the year food preparation devices recorded a positive performance with 15% growth. Hand blenders, however, were still the most in demand product. Significant growth (37%) was demonstrated by kitchen machines, indicating that consumers are interested in high priced products.
Consumer Electronics: Market deceleration

For 2011, the CE sector grew by 26% compared to the previous year. In turn, Q4 2011 market volume only increased by 8%. Despite minor growth rates, the total market size in the last months of a year was record-breaking and amounted to UAH 2.6 billion. Besides the most significant group – TV, which occupies 80% of total CE, yearly growth was facilitated by some of the smallest groups – usb-memory, memory cards, car audio and camcorders, which added from 4% to 33% in value. LCD continued to lead TVs with a 46% yearly growth, mainly owing to LED technology. Concerning Flat TV’s technical characteristics, manufacturer’s desire to produce more hi-tech TVs is obvious. Over this period the share of 3D technology and Smart TV rose significantly, mostly due to low price models. Furthermore, a gradual growth of audio home systems with 3D feature is notable.
Information technology: Notebooks continue to lead

In Q4 2011 Information technology market (notebooks, monitors and desktops) totaled UAH 3.4 million, which is 24% more than in the respective period of last year. The most significant growth was shown by notebooks, curiously enough, as far as the acceleration goes for the whole year. Thereby in Q4, sales of Notebooks reached UAH 2.3 billion (31% growth compared to Q4 2010). Overall the year notebook market totaled UAH 6.9 billion (42% growth). The share of netbooks remained unchanged, accounting for 9% of the IT sector. Desktops registered the second highest growth rate and in Q4 sold UAH 0.74 billion, whereas for the year this figure was UAH 2.24 billion. comparison with other IT groups monitors demonstrated negative dynamics of 1% and amounted UAH 0.36 billion. Nevertheless, annual results amounted to 14% and UAH 1.2 billion, primarily because of monitors with LED technology. This technology is expected to grow in 2012.