electronics

Consumers Continuing Electronic Love Affair

Consumers are continuing with their love of electronics this year, particularly when it comes to entertainment and connectivity. 

In a slew of research released in conjunction with IFA 2017 in Berlin, GfK noted sales of smart TVs, smartphones and even gaming PCs are showing strength this year. 

According to the company, about 59% of all television sets sold during the first half of 2017 were smart TVs, compared with 51% for the same period in 2016. China is leading the way, with 89% of all sets sold between January and June being smart TVs. In Europe, smart TVs accounted for 56% of all sales. Accordingly, average spending on TV sets has increased, with average spending reaching 448 euros (about $533 at the current exchange rate, and up from 431 euros ($513) last year, ). 

Meanwhile, sales of PC Gaming hardware have added strength to the overall PC market. Having faced challenges from smartphones and tablets in the past year, the gaming desktop PC sector increased its global revenue by 55% over the first half of 2016. (Portable gaming PCs saw a revenue increase of 24%.) In all, global revenues of gaming PCs amounted to 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

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Relatedly, sales of PC gaming accessories are also strong, showing a 56% increase in sales over 2016 (and about 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion)). The highest demand accessory were  monitors, which had 114% revenue growth for the first half to the year, though other accessories like mice, keyboards and headsets also made strong gains. 

Finally, consumers continue to love their smartphones. According to GfK, the first half of the year saw 700 million smartphones sold worldwide, a 5% increase over the same period in 2016. Thanks to increasing sales prices (up 7% to an average 287 euros ($342)), revenues increased at a stronger clip, up 12% over 2016.

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