Brazilian consumers led the purchase of mobile phones, HDTVs, digital cameras and netbooks in a study by consultancy Accenture.
The company heard 8,000 consumers in eight major industrialized and emerging countries in 2010.
The annual survey on electronic products and services, highlighting the emergence of “a new paradigm of consumer technology,” calls attention to the emerging countries’ thirst for consumer electronics, compared to more stable markets of rich countries.
“With more stable economies and growing wealth among the middle class in these countries, the consumers’ appetite for technology, especially mobile, is insatiable (these countries),” the study says.
In contrast, not only in industrialized countries are more mature markets such as the effect of the economic crisis is felt more strongly, which reduces the willingness to spend in this segment.
Accenture heard consumers in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Brazil, Russia, India and China. According to their report, the groups of respondents in Brazil, India, China and Russia are representative of urban and semi-urban populations of those countries.
About 55% of Brazilians said they bought a cell phone last year. India comes second with about 50% of respondents answered positively, leaving the group in Russia in third with only 40%. The U.S. respondents appear only in 6th place in the list, with 20% claiming to have purchased a cell phone in 2010.
Almost 30% of Brazilian respondents said they purchased a high-definition TV – the same proportion of consumers who bought a digital camera. The percentages are seen in China 28 (HD TVs) and 22 (digital camera). Japan occupies the fourth and last position, respectively.
The Brazilians are the ones who already own mobile phones, DVD players, TVs and standard netbooks, according to the survey.
The laptop computer and were considered by researchers as “the quiet giant” among electronic products. “Everyone has one,” wrote the authors of the study.
About 93% of respondents in all countries reported having a computer. In Brazil, 35% of respondents said they bought a PC last year, a proportion similar to India, but slightly behind China.
The Chinese consumers have a giant lead in Smartphone purchases (almost 40% bought one last year, compared with less than 20% of Brazilians).
The study suggested that emerging markets are skipping stages in the acquisition of electronic products, compared to the trajectory followed by the more saturated markets of industrialized countries.
“Contrary to common misperceptions, a large segment of consumers in BRIC is more interested in newer technologies and innovative technologies cheaper with less features,” the survey noted.
“Trends indicate that some of the new technologies may be making others obsolete more quickly.”
An example is the computer, whose sales growth rates tend to fall over the next year, while demand for tablet PCs is expected to grow 160%.
The study comes to question whether, in future, a new group of select few and technologies – tablet computers, netbook, smartphone and e-book readers – will be able to leave behind the computer and other electronic equipment.
For the year 2011, according to research, products that lead the consumer preferences include high-definition TVs, computers and smartphones.
However, the study sees a difference “striking” between the industrialized and emerging markets. While 40% of survey respondents in rich countries said they had no intention of buying electronics in 2011, the BRIC countries this figure was only 9%.
via BBC Brasil – Notícias – Brasileiros lideram pesquisa de consumo de celulares e TVs HD.
