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FRANCAISThe base effect was again unfavourable for Swiss watch exports, with the trend failing to show any improvement in September. Their value fell by 26.1%, to 1.1 billion francs. The cumulative variation was unchanged in relation to August and indicated -25.9% for the first nine months of the year. This steady decline has reduced the value of watch exports to their 2006 level.
Watches manufactured from precious metals suffered the steepest declines in value terms in September, while the downturn was less marked for bimetallic timepieces. The number of timepieces exported suffered particularly badly, falling by nearly a million units in one month. Steel and the category of other materials had a markedly negative effect on results. Since the beginning of the year, exports have registered a shortfall of 5.1 million watches.
For wristwatches costing less than 200 francs (export price) the number of pieces exported fell by half in September, generating a deficit of 890,000 units. The 200-500 franc segment performed much better, registering a decline of around 4%. Watches between 500 and 3,000 francs recorded an above average performance. Their value fell by 18.2% compared to September 2008. Timepieces costing more than 3,000 francs set the tone, their value falling by 26.0%.
There was little change on the Swiss watch industry’s different markets. Hong Kong and the United States registered rates of decline close to those of previous months. France and Italy showed comparable above-average trends. Germany improved somewhat. Since the beginning of the year the main European markets have shown a stronger resistance to the downswing in demand for Swiss watch exports. China produced the best result, followed closely by Singapore, where the fall in value was 3.3%.
source: www.fhs.ch
