Gadget sales slump as Singaporeans tighten purse strings

What is to blame for the 20% crash in laptop sales?

The technical consumer goods (TCG) market raked in S$930 million for quarter, according to fresh data from GfK TEMAX, with the Telecommunications (Telco) sector the best performing sector of the bunch, rising double digits in sales value.

Only Information Technology (IT) and Office Equipment and Consumables (OE) generally maintained their sales, while Small Domestic Appliances (SDA) decreasing marginally by almost 0.4% while the rest of the sectors suffered double-digit declines, the data also showed.

What drove the performance of each sector? 

Here's more from GfK TEMAX:

Telecommunication: Continues its strong growth. With double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, the Telco sector registered almost SGD 240 million spending in Q1 2012. The smartphones segment proved to be the star turn of this sector, with a growth of 54% for this quarter year-on-year. This segment continued to experience high demand, inching towards larger screen sizes with full touch screen functionality.

Information Technology: Double-digit decline for 2011. As the largest sector in value terms in the Singapore market, the IT sector garnered a slight 3.5% growth in total earnings. Webbooks performed well with a growth of over 100%, and accounted for 34% of all IT products sold. Webbooks have been experiencing a steady increase in market size during the last three months. Mobile computers and desk computers, on the other hand, were down by close to 20% in Q1 2012 versus Q1 2011. Despite a less than ideal performance, regarding value, the IT sector garnered more than SGD 355 million in sales in Q1 2012.

Office Equipment and Consumables: Positive full-year growth for the sector despite a lackluster fourth quarter. Q1 2012 saw a marginal increase in sales. The only boost to the sector during this period came from coated paper, which rose 57% against Q1 2011.

Small Domestic Appliances: Flat growth in Q1 2012 versus Q1 2011. With more filter coffee drinkers converting to capsule machines and strong competition coming into the market with aggressive promotional activities and attractive pricing, hot beverage makers garnered the highest growth rate of 15%. However, sales of all products barely grew in Q1 2012 against the same quarter in 2011.

Major Domestic Appliances: Double-digit drop for the quarter. The MDA sector closed Q1 2011 with a decline of 15% in sales compared to the previous year. All segments within this sector registered double-digit declines.

Consumer Electronics: In the red for Q1 2012. Sales of the CE sector declined by some 24% in Q1 2012 compared to Q1 2011. While most segments registered negative sales, only camcorders managed to record a positive result, 10% growth compared to 2010.