Local electronics market expands by 25 percent

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The local consumer electronics market grew 25 percent, reaching a volume of 22.8 billion Turkish Liras last year, according to a report by GfK, one of the largest global market research firms.

The market witnessed 22 percent growth, hitting 6.2 billion liras of volume during last quarter of 2011, breaking a quarterly record.

The consumer electronics report includes the imaging, telecommunications, information technologies, office equipment, small house appliances and white goods industries.

The telecoms market waned by 8.4 percent to 1.4 billion liras due to a hike in the special consumption tax, the report said.

The report noted a rise in consumer interest in flat-screen televisions in particular, which contributed to the market growth the most. LED televisions have started to sell in the wider market, followed by 3D and internet-access televisions.

Consumers opted for smart phones with cutting-edge technologies; cell phones with the Android operating system and larger and higher resolution monitors gained currency.

Although smart phones with advanced camera features have gained momentum, digital cameras and frames saw double-digit growth in the last quarter of 2011 on an annual basis.

The white goods sector growth rate was 26 percent, hitting 1.7 billion liras in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010.