A new report shows mobile phones are the fastest moving electronics products online, tying in with trends in offline retail in Kenya and globally.
The latest Kenya Electronic Market Report for the month of March 2017 by Data Fintech (DF), a leading financial big data and research company, puts the total listing value of mobile phones on the marketplace in March 2017 at Ksh99.1 million, a 108% increase from February 2017 and 608% from March 2016.
In a period of one year, the report says, the DF Mobile Phone Demand Index has experienced 154% increase since March 2016. With mobile phone services penetration deepening, the demand for phones, both feature and smart phones, has been steadily growing over the past decade, hitting a crescendo in the past few years as smartphones swept the markets.
The Kenya Electronic Market Report, which covers data from Pigiame, a leading online classifieds marketplace in Kenya, provides unique market insights such as customer demand, brands competition and electronic dealers purchases.
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The report was extracted from DF’s global research and offers trends on the evolution of the Kenyan consumer demand for the six most popular electronic products in the country, which include mobile phones, TVs, laptops, tablets, Hi-Fi systems and cameras.
The data published in the March Electronics Market report covers 15 months from January 2016 to March 2017 with keen interest on online shoppers’ activities on the marketplace against electronic products and brands.
Televisions come in second, with a total listing value of Ksh86.7 million, a 34.6% increase from February 2017. Its Demand Index increased by 6.9% between February and March 2017. TV Manufacturers are keeping pace with viewers’ tastes, releasing newer models with enhanced user experience.
The shift in technology from analogue to digital broadcasting has stimulated demand for digital TV sets in Kenya.
The total listing value for laptops on the marketplace was at Ksh16.9 million in March 2017, according to the report, paling in performance compared to February 2017 which was at Ksh31.3 million, recording a -46.1% decline and a -4.6% decline compared to March 2016.
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The total listing value of tablets on Pigiame marketplace increased by 22% between February and March 2017, and 232% between March 2016 and March 2017.
The total listed value for HiFi Systems increased by 2.6% in March 2017 while the HiFi Demand Index slowed by -2.6% compared to the preceding month.
Cameras experienced a 12.9% increase in the total listed value from February 2017, which was placed at Ksh5.7m in March 2017.
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