Consumer Electronics

Smart wearables, namely smart watches, continues to consolidate its dominate position within Japanese wearable electronics as a health tracking device. In the initial stages of smart watches, it was perceived to be a device for tech-savvy…

With the enhancement of Bluetooth technology and the gradually expanding AI voice assistant models offered by the likes of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant in consumers’ homes, wireless speakers has continued to experience demand over the review…

2021 has become a memorable year for mobile phones in Japan. The three largest telecom players in Japan, Docomo (operated by NTT Docomo), au (operated by KDDI) and SoftBank (operated by SoftBank), all launched second brands. KDDI already had a second…

After experiencing a double-digit drop in retail volume sales in 2020 as the pandemic and subsequent rising price sensitivity significantly reduced investments in terms of purchasing vehicles, 2021 is expected to register a partial recovery in terms…

The emergence of the pandemic particularly impacted demand for imaging devices in Japan in 2020, although the category was already on a declining trajectory over the review period, due to the high prevalence of alternative devices such as smartphones…

The Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were due to be held in Tokyo in 2020, but they were postponed until 2021 as a result of the pandemic. Some manufacturers and retailers were concerned that the postponement would damage sales of televisions, but…

It is understandable that demand for a number of home audio and cinema products is declining in Japan when the population is decreasing. However, another negative factor in declining demand is the prevalent use of smartphones. The iPhone, which has…

Consumers using TWS earbuds in Japan before the entry of Apple’s AirPods in December 2016 are deemed to be early adopters. Other producers quickly followed as a result of the category’s dynamic growth following Apple’s arrival. Nevertheless, at this…

Following a strong upturn in demand for a number of consumer electronics in 2020 due to the home seclusion trend as a result of the pandemic, including computers for remote working and studying, and televisions and e-readers for home entertainment,…

Demand for computers was expected to drop in 2020 prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 following a spike in demand for replacements, for both business and retail, driven by the end of extended support of Windows 7 in the January. However, 2020 was a…

While demand for wearable electronics remains quite limited in Mexico, it is expanding at a double-digit annual rate. While the rate of growth in retail volume sales slowed somewhat during 2020 due to the economic shock of the pandemic, it will…

Wireless speakers dominate portable players: They will account for close to 95% of retail volume sales in 2021. Retail volume sales of wireless speakers continue to expand rapidly, with the pandemic having no more than a minor negative, as the…

Having declined in double digits during 2020, retail volume sales of mobile phones will rebound during 2021. Even before the onset of the pandemic, the rate of growth in retail volume sales of smartphones had been slowing, in spite of the increasing…

Demand for in-car entertainment is in long-term decline, with retail current value sales being cannibalised by smartphones. In-car navigation is being particularly badly affected by this, as local consumers increasingly prefer to use mapping apps…

Retail volume sales of imaging devices are in long-term decline, as local consumers are increasingly happy to use their smartphones to take photos and record video. The image quality of smartphones is steadily improving, with many of the latest…

Retail volume sales of home video will continue to decline during 2021, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in 2020. There continues to be a sharp divergence between the performance of televisions and video players, with strong growth in demand for…

Having been little better than flat in 2020, the rate of growth in retail constant value sales of home audio and cinema will accelerate modestly during 2021. While retail volume sales will continue to decline, it will be at a somewhat more modest…

The rate of growth in retail volume sales of headphones is set to slow marginally during 2021. During 2020, demand for headphones was strongly supported by the fact that many more people were working or studying from home due to COVID-19…

Buoyed by a more stable economic environment, which will boost consumer confidence, the rate of growth in retail constant value sales of consumer electronics will accelerate during 2021, with robust demand for smartphones and portable computers in…

The rate of growth in retail current value sales of computers and peripherals will slow somewhat but remain very strong in 2021. 2020 saw a deepening of the work from home trend due to COVID-19 restrictions on movement. This drove a significant…