A drop was also registered in terms of sales of small household appliances (8.6 percent), cameras (8.2 percent) and electronic equipment (8 percent). The mobile telephone market stalled, while the IT sector was the only one to register growth of 1.8 percent, with total sales worth €258 million.
“Obviously, the fourth quarter was weaker than expected, as products have superior characteristics, and lower prices could not counterbalance the effects of the international financial crisis, which was felt most strongly in our country as of December,” said Andi Dumitrescu, Managing Director of GfK Romania.
Concerning estimates for 2009, the President of Flamingo International, Dragos Simion, said: “I estimate a drop of as much as 30 percent of the market in the first quarter of this year. It is difficult to make an estimate for the rest of the year. There are many factors that apparently have no direct bearing on the market, but which indirectly influence this significantly, such as the approval by the government of the budget, and its execution. These directly influence the exchange rate and lending, thus, implicitly influencing us as well.”
The durable goods market was worth €742 million in Q4 2008, while for the whole of last year, it posted 11.5 percent growth, to reach €2.47 billion, according to GfK.
Notebooks claimed top spot in terms of positive growth in all of the quarters in 2008, due to a constant drop in their prices, making these more accessible to consumers, who are increasingly more interested in mobility.
Main players on this segment include Altex, Domo and Flamingo.
