- Volatility of household consumption and interest rate drives fluctuations in sales
- Increasing price pressures to persistently affect margins
- Rising e-commerce activities challenging traditional players
- Risk of cannibalization between new product lines due to the convergence of their functionalities
Growth goes on despite deflationary pressures
In 2016, the household equipment sector grew by +4.2%, well below the long-term trend (+8.0% over the last decade). The sector is at the boundary between household investment and consumption, comprising appliances or “white goods” (65%), consumer electronics aka “brown goods” (10%), and furniture (25%). It is highly globalized and sensitive to the economy as a whole. Long-term sales growth has, therefore, remained weak because of price pressures, and the close linkage with the construction sector, in itself still convalescent in many countries.
Despite this global structure, a strong dichotomy persists between advanced economies where the sector faces stagnation or is slightly decreasing in value (-1.4% per year since 2005) and emerging markets where it enjoys steady growth (+14.2% over the last 10 years).
Growth in advanced economies depends to a large extent on technological innovations and household decisions on equipment renewal.
The sector is also linked to the breakdown of households' current spending items between food, clothing, and leisure. The structure of these expenditures, which is specific to each country, is harmonized with the rise in the standard of living of households.
household-equipment-global-sector-report-feb17.pdf