OREANDA-NEWS. In Q4 2012 the TCG market in Ukraine amounted to USD 14.7 billion, which is 10 percent more than in the same quarter of 2011. Despite low sales volumes of TVs at the beginning of the year, the Consumer Electronics sector showed the greatest growth (22 percent). Domestic Appliances, both major and small, increased by nearly the same rate –12 percent and 13 percent, respectively. IT retained its leading position with its moderate growth rate of 4 percent. The Photo sector had a similar (4 percent) growth rate while Telecommunications (Telco) increased by 9 percent. In contrast to previous quarters of 2012, only one sector experienced a drop, Office Equipment (-10 percent).

In Q4, 2012 Consumer Electronics was marked by a 22 percent growth. Flat-panel TV sets were still the key products in the sector – they account-ed for 85 percent of the market sales. Among all product groups, the sales of TV sets with LCD display grew the most, while TV sets with a plasma display showed the greatest decline. The demand for large screens contin-ued to grow - sales volume of 40-42-inch-diagonals exceeded the sales of 32-inch screens. Meanwhile 32-inch LCDs are still in the lead in terms of annual sales. Gradual price decreases helped increase sales of TV sets with 3D and Smart technologies; the percentage of TVs with the control functions via voice, gestures and facial recognition are also growing. Among the other groups, there was also growth from memory cards (23 percent), gaming consoles (20 percent) and USB memory (7 percent).

Small Domestic Appliances: Retention of the last year's trends
In 2012, the sector of Small Domestic Appliances recorded moderate growth (1 percent), largely because of a weak first half of the year. In July-December 2012, the situation improved due to high sales in Q4 (+14 percent to the Q4, 2011). The best results of the year were shown by kitchen appliances. The most significant category was cooking devices, which increased by 5 percent against 2011. There was a significant growth for hand blenders and kitchen machines while the demand for food processors tended to decline. Additionally, Q4 was especially successful for vacuum cleaners, which generated almost a quarter of all sales in the sector with a 25 percent increase. In particular, the share of wet&dry vacuum cleaners showed growth. The decreased demand was seen for personal care appliances, first of all, for shavers and epilators (-7 percent), as well as for hair-dryers (-5 percent). The sales volume of devices for hair styling remained relatively stable.  
Major Domestic Appliances: Positive changes in trends at the end of the year

2012 saw the MDA sector close the year with a 1 percent growth. The last quarter of the year brought about some optimism for the sector with a rise of 12 percent against Q4 2011. Cooling devices were mainly responsible for this growth, especially freezers and refrigerators, which showed 25 percent and 18 percent, respectively. Smaller growth, but not in terms of importance for the market, was shown by washing machines – 11 percent. Standalone cooking appliances changed their negative trend of the previous quarters (+8 percent). Extremely small sales of dryers in 2011 witnessed significant growth (34 percent) in the fourth Quarter of 2012. Built-in equipment and hoods demonstrated the lowest, although a positive growth (7 percent). In general, positive results seen in 2012 are due to the last quarter, namely, sales of traditional devices for the Ukrainian market of Major Domestic Appliances (washing machines and cooling devices) which demonstrated positive growth compared 2011.
Telecommunications: Smartphone and mobile phone confrontation continues

The Telco grew by 3 percent in 2012 against 2011 and amounted to USD8.25 billion. In Q4, the demand for fixed telephones and faxes declined – sales volumes decreased by 6 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Sales volume of smartphones saw a strong double digit increase in Q4, 2012 versus Q4 2011, and accounted for more than a half of the total market. Prices de-creases and the growth of demand for devices with two SIM-cards re-mained. Meanwhile, mobile phones still occupy a significant part of Telco market, despite the reduction of their share in 2012 against 2011. Like smartphones, the greatest demand is seen for mobile phones with a few SIM cards.
Information Technology: Slow growth of the largest sector

In Q4, 2012, the IT market showed positive dynamics (4 percent). The fastest growth, compared with the last quarter of the previous year, was seen for media tablets (169 percent). The total volume of the media tablet market exceeded USD1 billion in 2012. E-books are still in demand; however, their growth rate has considerably decreased: 23 percent versus 2011. Negative indicators in the sector are shown only by monitors and stationary computers – 18 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Drives saw growth when comparing both quarterly and annual data. Mobile computers remained stable (3 percent growth), while mice and keyboards showed an increase of 14 percent and 37 percent, respectively versus the same period of the previous year. Although keyboards grew much faster throughout the quarter, the annual results of both groups increased by 18 percent.
Photo market: Ukraine follows the global trend

Q4 2012 was quite successful. This is highlighted by a 4 percent increase of the market in comparison with the same period of 2011. This rise was mainly affected by the December sales. In 2012, there was a growth in demand for SLR cameras and a decrease in sales of the compact. It was SLR cameras, which helped the market grow by 6 percent in value terms compared to 2011.
Office equipment: Stable market structure

In Q4, 2012, Office Equipment showed a 10 percent decline. According to the results of 2012, the market fell by 11 percent against 2011. The market structure did not change significantly during this time – the largest product group was still multi-functional devices (62 percent). Compared to the previous year, their market share somewhat decreased in favor of printers (-2 percent). Scanners still occupy 3 percent of the total market and tend to decline (8 percent versus 2011).
The results of the year

2012 was the year, which was notable for its unusual trends in 1HY and 2HY – a 1 percent decline and a 5 percent growth, respectively. At the same time, the sectors of Office equipment, Photo and IT do not comply with this rule. Office Equipment steadily declined throughout the year while the Photo market showed significant growth (15 percent) in 1HY 2012, conditioned by the rapid development of more expensive SLR’s. The gradual saturation of this segment in the 2HY led to a reduction in sales in the Photo sector by 1 percent versus the corresponding period of 2011. A similar situation arose in the IT market; it mainly contains goods that sold better in the last six months of 2011 than in 2HY 2012. Summing up half-year results, 2012 sales increased by 2.6 percent against 2011 and amounted to USD44.4 billion, which is a very successful performance for the Ukrainian market.