Western Europe

Retail volume sales of e-readers continued declining during the review period and appear to be in long-term decline with a further heavy decline set to be seen in 2023. The category has in part been impacted by the popularity of smartphones with some…

Portable players continued to see positive growth in retail volume terms in 2023. The category is dominated by wireless speakers, which are highly compatible with busy, “on-the-go” lifestyles, particularly since the removal of restrictions associated…

Portable players is another category suffering from cannibalisation from smartphones, along with seeing competition from tablets and laptops (to a lesser extent). The main reason here is the fact that smartphones, tablets, and the like, offer…

Wireless speakers will continue to exhibit volume growth in 2023, with some of this rise in sales coming at the expense of portable media players, a category in steep decline. Smartphones and streaming content are cannibalising portable media…

Wireless speakers are the only growth area in portable players and also account for most volume sales. Low-cost Bluetooth-enabled speakers are especially popular among younger consumers and are mainly used to stream music via smartphones and…

Despite a crisis-driven year, portable players is expected to manage to achieve slightly positive growth in both volume and current value sales in 2023; this makes it one of the few product categories within consumer electronics to do so. An…

Portable players has been showing flat-negative growth over the review period, which worsened through 2021-2023. That said, the overall category volume is expected to be back in small positive volume growth in 2024. Wireless speakers remains the…

Portable players would be an overall ailing category, was it not for the relative success of wireless speakers. In line with cross-category trends, consumers are rejecting sole-use devices for those which offer multifunctionality and convenience…

Portable players in Austria market has registered slight positive growth in retail current value sales and a significant slowdown in retail volume decline towards the end of the review period. Wireless speakers, which dominates retail volume and…

The global economy is facing weaker growth and increasing fragmentation, as a result of rising geopolitical tensions, especially due to the war in Ukraine and the US-China strategic rivalry. Protectionism, industrial policy and a focus on resilience…

In 2023, mobile phone volume sales saw a small volume decline, though current value sales are rising. Adverse economic conditions in the country translated into lower disposable incomes, and this has reduced mobile phone renewals. The rising price of…

Retail volume sales of mobile phones continue to decline in 2023, although the fall in demand for smartphones is much lower in the first half of the year compared to 2022’s double-digit drop. The main factors behind the decline are ongoing…

Mobile phones to see decline in volume sales again in 2023

Sales of smartphones continue to decline in retail volume terms in 2023 with several factors weighing on demand. Firstly, this stagnation reflects the increasing maturity of the category with very few consumers still without a mobile phone, unless by…

In line with the rest of the world, mobile phones experienced a decline in sales in retail volume terms in 2022 with this pattern continuing into 2023. This follows a very negative December campaign during 2022, which is normally one of the most…

Retail sales of mobile phones in Portugal declined in volume terms in 2023, albeit at a slower rate than the previous year. Demand remained constrained by low levels of purchasing power, as home-owners continued to grapple with stagnating incomes and…

Due to the ubiquitous nature of smartphones, one might expect that sales would be more robust, however, volume is in a marginal decline in 2023. This is attributed to the elongated product lifecycles, both due to models being of better quality, and…

Sales of smartphones have been trending down in volume terms in recent years, as consumers perceive that the latest versions do not incorporate sufficient new and compelling technology to justify the expense of a new product. Lack of inventory due to…

There is expected to be a decrease in volume sales of smartphones, which is by far the most popular mobile phone, in 2023. Continuing inflation and rising price sensitivity is persuading many consumers to put off upgrading their smartphone. That…

In 2023, various macroeconomic conditions have been affecting mobile phones, particularly rising prices. Persistent high inflation, as well as a scarcity of resources for manufacturing smartphones, and distribution difficulties, are expected to…