In February, (as in January), MDA forecasts were the most positive. As we live with COVID restrictions for the second year in a row, we can clearly see which groups are most affected by the quarantine – large, free-standing MDA groups. February 2022 is no exception. The MDA sector grew the most, as it did in January. February sales units were up +32%, and value was up as much as +38%. As mentioned earlier, the near-term forecast for the MDA sector is showing good signs. We don’t expect the kind of growth seen in January and February, but it is believed that growth of up to 10-15% in units and up to 18-23% in value is a realistic and plausible scenario. There are no significant changes in the individual groups. The strongest growth is still in the built-in segments – dishwashers, ovens, built-in hobs. These trends are not expected to change in MDA, at least not in the next 6 months. It is worth noting that due to the war in Ukraine, sales in the freezers category have increased significantly. It was the fastest growing group not only in Lithuania, but also in Latvia and Estonia.
SDA, like MDA, is still experiencing growth so far. This sector has seen year-on-year unit growth of +24% and value growth of +36%. However, there are already signs of slowing in some SDA groups, such as coffee machines. Unit growth was only +24%, while value growth was +21%. This growth in coffee machines was one of the lowest in recent years. As coffee machines are one of the most important SDA groups, this will also affect the overall SDA results. Similar results can be seen with vacuum cleaners, where growth in units and value was among the lowest in recent months. The most impressive growth in recent months was seen in irons, which grew +76% in units and +66% in value. Overall, SDA earnings grew for two months – +30% in units and +46% in value. Irons were the leading item group, while shavers were the least successful. This trend is sure to continue at least in the coming months.
The TV market this February has suffered the worst growth in recent years – not only in terms of unit sales, but after a long time we also recorded negative trends in value. February unit sales were -15% and the value was -7%. This is one of the most important groups on the market, so any disadvantage of this group directly affects the overall result of the Lithuanian market, especially in value sales. The result for two months is -8% in units. In terms of value, it remains positive, +2%. It seems to be already a trend – TVs are on a downturn.
The biggest hope for this year should be the SMP group. After two rather subdued years, this year should be the year of the SMP. It reached +16% in February, and March is expected to be even better and continue to grow in the coming months.
Unfortunately, IT has been the least promising market sector so far in 2022, and our forecasts for the end of 2021 continue to confirm this. Total sales units for the sector are down 2% for the second month in a row, with the exception of media tablets. On the other hand, IT value growth remains positive at +10%.