The Romanian technical consumer goods (TCG) market increased by 13% in 2015 compared to 2014, reaching almost EUR 2.3 billion. The electro-IT sales reached EUR 863 million in the last quarter of 2015, up by 18.3% compared to the same period of 2014, thus having a significant contribution to the overall performance of the year, according to the GfK TEMAX survey.

All market segments contributed to the positive outcome of the fourth quarter, except for the photo segment.

The telecommunication sector, which includes smartphone sales, continued to be the most dynamic. It went up by almost a third (32.6%) in the fourth quarter 2015 compared to the same period the previous year, reaching a total value of EUR 263 million. The smartphones brought most of the growth in this segment, mainly due to high-performing devices. For the whole year, the telecommunications segment recorded EUR 718 million in sales, up by 23.6% compared to 2014.

The major domestic appliances (MDA) sales also went up by 23.4% in the last quarter of 2015, reaching EUR 171 million. According to GfK, the Black Friday campaigns triggered higher sales than last year for all the product categories in this segment, also bringing average price erosions. The yearly sales reached EUR 473 million, up by 17% compared to 2014.

In the small domestic appliances segment (SDA), the growth rate was 20.8% in the last quarter, when the sales reached EUR 54 million. With one exception, all the product groups were on the positive path and six of them experienced increases of over 20%. The yearly sales went up by 13% to EUR 147 million.

The consumer electronics segment reported a growth of 12.6% for the last quarter of 2015. Sales were heavily impacted by the promotional activities from Black Friday and Christmas sales, reaching EUR 172 million. The yearly turnover in this segment was EUR 386 million, up by 8%.

Meanwhile, the Romanian IT market recovered after a negative previous quarter. It registered sales of EUR 172 million in the last three months of 2015, up by 4.2%, according to the GfK survey. While the media tablets continued on a negative path, recording a double-digit decrease in sales value, the demand for mobile computing increased, especially for products equipped with high performing processors and dedicated graphic. Desk computing, monitors, pointing devices, keying, all reported increased sales volume in the last quarter of 2015. The IT segment remained the second biggest of the electro-IT market, with yearly sales of EUR 477 million (up by 3.2% year-on-year).

The Romanian office equipment and consumables segment reached EUR 20 million in the fourth quarter, up by 8% compared to the same period in 2014, and EUR 62 million for the whole year.

The photography market contracted to EUR 11 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, which represents a 6.7% decline compared to Q4 2014. For the whole year, this market segment saw a 12.4% drop, to EUR 27 million.

Romania’s largest online retailer sells products of over EUR 45 mln on Black Friday

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