How much further will electrical and IT retail fall?

The market of electronics and home electrical appliances declined further in the first three months of the year, by 25%, 271m euros, according to a survey conducted by GfK market research firm. The sales drop in the field came in the context where players in the field considered there is a decline of around 10%, and the general trend should follow stagnation or a several percentage change. “The overall market reached 271m euros in the first quarter of this year, the lowest value registered by GfK. While several sectors boasted encouraging trends, others, such as the IT and telecommunications one, suffered a considerable contraction against the start of 2009,” reads the survey. “For the yearend, we expect just -5% and get close to last year’s level. We’re talking about a bottom of the market. The market cannot go lower than that because that would mean refrigerators would start disappearing from homes,” stated Adrian Olteanu, general manager of Flanco retailer. In the first part of 2010, the IT field, accounting for almost one third of the electrical and IT retail market value, continued to report weak sales, 38% lower than in the first quarter of last year.