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Serbias consumer electronics devices market, defined as the addressable market for computing devices, mobile handsets and video, audio and gaming products, is forecast to stand at around US$1.2bn in 2012.

Serbian households were hit hard in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and consumer demand has been slow to recover.

BMI forecasts low single-digit growth in spending in 2012. Stubbornly high unemployment and the debt burden have constrained demand for goods such as flat-screen TV sets, smartphones and notebooks and placed pressure on revenues and margins.

A government-negotiated thaw of an IMF-imposed freeze of public sector wages and pension benefits in 2011 promised a boost to demand as pension benefit values and wage growth were negative in real terms in 2010. BMI forecasts that Serbian per capita consumer electronics spending will increase from US$124 in 2012 to US$175 by 2016.

Computers

Computer hardware accounted for around 41% of Serbias consumer electronics spending in 2011. Sales increased again in 2011, following a double-digit contraction in 2010. With only around 40% of households having a computer, according to government figures, computer hardware compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2012-2016 period is forecast at about 14%, driven by sales of notebooks. Meanwhile, government programmes such as a EUR620,000 procurement of computers scheme for primary schools will support sales.

AV Devices

AV devices accounted for around 37% of Serbias consumer electronics spending in 2011. The Serbian domestic AV device market is projected at US$444mn in 2012. Following a modest recovery in 2011, a CAGR of 4.4% is projected for 2012-2016, due largely to growth in the digital TV set category. Serbia is scheduled to complete its switchover to digital broadcasting by April 2012.

Mobile Handsets

Mobile handset sales accounted for around 22% of Serbias consumer electronics spending in 2011. Serbias market handset sales are expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% to US$337mn in 2016, as sales in Serbias youthful market are increasingly dominated by replacement handsets, with a growing market for 3G models and smartphones. In January 2011 the abolition of the 10% mobile phone tax provided a boost to the handset market.