This report profiles Poland’s consumer electronics industry, including market trends in 2013 and corporate news related to firms including Germany’s BSH Bosch und Siemens, Manta Multimedia, Toshiba, NTT System, Saturn, and Komputronik.

In 2012 and January to September 2013, growth in Poland’s consumer electronics output slowed, but remained positive for the major products, such as refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, blenders, grinders, and food processors. On the other hand, production of automatic drying machines, vacuum cleaners, electric-gas stoves, gas stoves with oven, TV receivers, and digital automatic data processing machines stayed on a downward y/y path. Market performance was visibly hampered by consumers cutting down expenditures on electronics and household appliances amid shrinking disposable income. Sales of consumer electronics might pick up in Q4 2013, when retail trade is driven upwards by the holiday season, thus improving the full-year performance.

The diminishing domestic demand was not reflected in the activity of manufactures, as roughly 80% of the consumer electronics output is exported. Approximately 50% of domestic demand is covered by imports, hence the sales slowdown was alleviated by lower consumer electronics imports. Exports’ outlook remains linked to global developments in the financial markets and the economic environment in the major destination markets. Projections are, accordingly, cautious, but remain optimistic.

Key Points:

• In corporate news, German company BSH Bosch und Siemens acquired 14.86mn shares (a 97.78% stake) in Polish producer Zelmer. Consumer electronic producer and distributor Manta Multimedia plans to issue shares worth PLN 30mn in June 2014 to finance the expansion of its product portfolio.

• Japan’s Toshiba has sold its Polish LCD TV plant to Taiwan’s Compal Electronics. Poland’s largest desktop PC producer NTT System targets to increase revenues by 5%–15% annually. Saturn has launched a new dedicated mobile retail chain. And Polish computer hardware distributor and retailer Komputronik intends to close some stores in order to focus on online sales and the new Megastore concept.

• Exports of household appliances managed to record double-digit annual advance in 2012, though tempering from the 16.6% y/y increase in 2011. The segment of refrigerators and freezers posted the highest growth rate last year- up by 22.2% y/y, while, on the other hand, the segment of TV sets saw 8.9% y/y decline of exports, affected by lowering demand from Western markets.

• According to QuERI-Emerging Markets Direct World Market Reports, real exports of household appliances are expected to rise by 7.3% y/y in 2013 (in mn 1995 USD), decelerating from the 17.1% y/y rise in 2012 and 27.7% y/y increase in 2011, but to pick up slowly to 11.5% y/y advance in 2014.