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GFK TEMAX has released its research into the market for Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) in Australia.
TCG includes consumer electronics, telecommunications devices, major domestic appliances, and small domestic appliances.
According to GfK TEMAS, in Q4 2015, the Australian Technical Consumer Goods market recorded its strongest growth of the year with value sales up by 11.8 percent, compared to Q4 2014. The TCG market in 2015 reached AUD19.3 billion.
The growth of the TCG sector is affected by uncertainties surrounding the global financial market and the Chinese economy, record low interest rates and stronger than expected employment supported growth in household consumption.
Within TCG, Telecommunications was the largest and fastest growing sector in both Q4 2015, and in the whole of 2015.
Telecommunications accounted for 31 percent of all value sales within the TCG market, with the key components of this growth being prepaid smartphones, and a successful Christmas period for the wearables segment.
Within the prepaid smartphones segment, 19 percent of the total annual volume occurred in the final six weeks of the year, fueled by pricing promotions during the key Christmas period.
During the same period, the heavy retailer focus on wearables led to value growth of over 100 percent. The introduction of more premium smartwatch devices had a very positive impact on the overall value of this popular segment.
Information Technology ended the year on a positive note, despite a relatively weak performance in Q3 2015. The largest category in IT was portable PCs, which consist of devices running full operating systems, which recorded consistent, double-digit growth throughout 2015.
Models with smaller screen sizes outperformed the traditional, 15-inches segment, with more than half of all dollars spent on portable PCs in 2015 coming from devices with smaller screens. Also, 2-in-1 devices con-tributed to the recovery of the category, and accounted for a quarter of the value of the portable PCs segment in 2015.
According to GfK TEMAX Australia, the rate of growth is expected to slow in 2016, with 2015 being a stand-out year, which saw growth in key sectors. However, it would be unrealistic to expect similar rates of growth to continue in 2016, particularly as the overall annual success of 2015 was heavily dependent on the TC sector.
Performances of newer categories such as wearables, drones, and ‘smart home’ products will be key for sustaining the level of spending in the Australian TCG market in 2016.