The market of consumer electronic goods shrank 20 per cent in 2009 due to the economic crisis, said Ivan Ivanov, manager of an electronic goods company.

In 2009, the market of cell phones contracted by 40 per cent from 2008, and sales of brown goods by 15 per cent.

A consumer survey showed that despite economic hardships, 40 per cent of Bulgarians will spend the same amount of money as in 2008 or even more on electronic goods.

A total of 85 per cent of respondents intend to buy TV sets, cell phones and notebooks as Christmas presents.

According to Chang Sik Lee, LG Electronics CEO for Bulgaria, the company reported a 12 per cent consolidated growth in sales in Bulgaria in 2008. The two major product portfolios, of brown goods and cell phones, take up 30 per cent and 10 per cent of the market respectively.

According to company representatives, the driving force of the Bulgarian market is fast developing technology, which creates a wider range of products and speeds up the life span of goods. The TV sets sector will be influenced greatly by digitalization in the future.

In 2010 LG Electronics will be launching a new smart phone on the Bulgarian market. In 2010, the brown goods market will be dominated by LED technologies, which are forecast to take up over 35 per cent of the market of TV sets.

Source: BTA