France: TV set sales decline in 2015
February 11, 2016
From Paoli-Lebailly Pascale in Paris
Just 5.1 million TV sets were sold last year in France, some 700,000 units less than in 2014 and well under the 5.5 million sales forecasts. 570,000 of the units sold were HD, a figure also under expectations, according to GfK.
The average screen-size of purchased screens was 37 inches in 2015, with the market was driven by larger screens.
GfK estimates that 2016 will be a year of renewed growth as a result of the DTT MPEG-4 switch this summer. GfK estimates the number of TV sets directly affected by the MPEG-4 switch to be 4.8 million. Around 4 million sales of adapters are forecast and the TV market should benefit from this move too.
For the full year, GfK anticipates sales at 5.6 million with Ultra-HD seen as a key market driver with 1.3 million sales forecast.
GfK also reports that the number of screens per household is clearly rising, with an average of 5.3 connected devices per home in 2015. This is two screens more than in 2010.
In 2020, French homes should own an average of 7.1 screens – with a total of 200 million active screens in France.