The retail market of home appliances, consumer electronics and digital media in Central Europe is expected to grow by 2 percent in 2012, according to PMR’s latest report. In 2011, the sector was worth €12.2bn. The sector has seen modest increases over the last two years. In 2011, the retail markets of home appliances, consumer electronics and digital media in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia increased by 1.7% y-o-y, despite economic slowdown. The main trend involved the exchange of TV sets and the purchase of set-top boxes, as well as a boost in smartphone and tablet sales.
The Czech, Slovak and Polish markets decreased less than other countries in the region after the crisis. But during these uncertain times, most customers in the region are restraining from buying products that don’t fill a basic need. PMR expects that unlike all other markets in CE that will increase in value in 2013-14, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia will stagnate.
