Retail market information providers, GfK Asia, reported a jump in Asia’s demand for consumer technology products, with consumers spending over USD93 billion in 2009 alone. Asia’s rapid urbanization, small family sizes and young population are the main drivers behind the growing consumer technology market.
The findings were revealed at a recent Spot On Era Client Conference hosted by GfK Retail and Technology (Thailand). GfK’s retail tracking of over 300 such product groups globally in 2009 reflected a six percent growth in consumer spending in Asia, despite a two percent decline being registered on a global level. The two markets which bucked this global trend with substantial growths were Japan and China, which grew by 19 and 10 percent respectively.
“The nine Asian markets covered by GfK Asia have over 3,000 departmental stores and hypermarkets, 22,000 electronics and 48,000 telecommunication specialists shops and 15,000 computer hardware retail outlets that make shopping convenient for Asian consumers, who are known to be avid shoppers,” said Stanley Kee, regional commercial director of GfK Asia.
“One category which is driving growth of the tech sector is portable technology devices such as smartphones, netbooks, digital cameras, portable media players, et cetera, which recorded sales of USD1.04 billion in the twelve months ending June 2010, signifying a growth of 36 percent compared to the previous 12 months,"he said.
Kee also forecasts the hottest products in the space to be integrated tech devices, for instance, smartphones integrated with a full suite of applications and services. Similarly he thinks demand will continue to be strong for 3D devices such TVs and cameras.
At the conference in Thailand, GfK also announced it will soon launch automotive and optic panels research for the country. As the global top 14, and Asia’s 5th-largest motor-producer, Thailand’s automotive industry possess yet untapped high growth opportunities. According to Kee, Thailand is widely touted as the "Detroit of the Asia", and the country will continue to strengthen its automotive industry considerably.
Currently, GfK’s Automotive panel has already been launched in Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea and will soon be available in Singapore and Philippines.
For further information see GfK’s website.