Romania’s technical consumer goods market increased by 15.7% in the third quarter of this year, to EUR 484 million. This was the best third quarter since 2009, according to GfK TEMAX survey.

The telecommunications market registered a growth of 25.5% in non-subsidized sales between July and September, reaching EUR 144 million. Despite a slight slowdown in the growth rate, smartphones continued to o contribute to the positive outcome in this sector.

The consumer electronics market increased by 20.6% in the third quarter, registering a turnover of almost EUR 71 million. According to the survey, larger screen sizes and UHD TVs continued to perform at a high level in this period, multifunctional monitors also registering a strong growth. This positive move was however accompanied by a considerable decline in average prices.

The major domestic appliances (MDA) sector had a value of EUR 112 million in Q3, up 18.2% year-on-year. Double-digit increase rates were noted in both new and upgraded products such as refrigerators - up by 50%, higher capacity and eco-efficient washing machines, but also by an increasing penetration for built-in appliances, which now represent 16% of total MDA sales, according to GfK.

In the case of small domestic appliances, the increase was of 17.7%. In this sector, 11 categories generated higher sales, 8 of them recording a double-digit increase. Vacuum cleaners and juice makers had the most striking performances, but good performances were also registered by products with a higher price tag, such as robot vacuum cleaners, ironing systems and kitchen machines.

The IT sector registered an increase of 3.9% in the third quarter, its value amounting to EUR 103 million. The printing devices and consumables markets recorded a slight decrease of 0.6%, reaching EUR 14 million, while the photography sector continued its negative trend, declining by 19.7% to EUR 7 million.

The study also reveals that the consumer confidence indicator continued to grow throughout 2014, with the Romanian population being especially optimistic around election time. Romanians’ expectations regarding future improvements in household finances are growing, together with an improvement in the household debt situation.

In the first nine months of this year sales of technical consumer goods in Romania reached EUR 1.29 billion, registering a 13.7% increase compared to the same period of last year. If this growth rate maintains in the fourth quarter, then the market should pass EUR 2 billion. Sales of technical consumer goods are usually the highest in the last quarter, due to winter holiday shopping and sales events, such as Black Friday.

The largest players on this market are traditional electro-IT retailers Altex, Flanco and Domo and online retailer eMAG. Online sales on this segment have increased in recent years, with smaller players such as evoMAG, cel.ro, quickmobile.ro and others getting a piece of the market.

Large hypermarket networks, such as Carrefour, Auchan, Metro and Cora are also active on this market, as are telecom operators Orange, Vodafone and Telekom Romania, via their shop networks.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com