Swiss watch exports in the first half of 2019: value better than expected, volumes decline

Swiss watch exports in the first half of 2019: better than expected. Watch exports reached the equivalent of 10.7 billion Swiss Francs during the first half of the year, an increase of 1.4%. In the six months, volumes fell by 14.1%, a drop of over 1.6 million timepieces.

Despite a relatively flat start, Swiss watch exports for the first half of 2019 performed better than expected.

While part of the increase can be attributed to particular circumstances, such as anticipating the
effects of Brexit and an exhibition of rare items in China, overall performance remained positive and points to an encouraging trend in the sector for the year as a whole.

Nonetheless, a closer examination reveals marked disparities between markets, price segments and key players.

Watch exports reached the equivalent of 10.7 billion Swiss Francs during the first half of the year, an increase of 1.4%. While performance improved by +2.9% in the first quarter, the second three months of the year suffered from the sharp decline in June, causing results to stagnate.

In the six months, volumes fell by 14.1%, a drop of over 1.6 million timepieces.

Mechanical watches generated 83% of export sales and drove an increase in value. Conversely, quartz
watches lost ground, with volumes falling by 17.5% compared with January-June 2018.

Only watches priced at over 3,000 Swiss Francs (export price) posted an increase during the first half, with a rise in value of 6.0%. In lower price segments, value fell by 15.5% overall. Timepieces priced at less than 200 Swiss Francs, which accounted for more than 85% of the decline in volumes, saw the number of items reduce by 20.2%.

Precious metal and bimetal watches drove value up, while steel products recorded a fall. In volume terms, the main groups of materials (steel, other materials and other metals) posted significant declines.

In the first half of 2019, the fifteen main markets showed the following trend (total value in million Swiss Francs and variation by comparison with the first half of 2018):

Asia’s share of Swiss watch exports increased slightly, accounting for 54% of total value. At over 5.7 billion Swiss Francs, performance increased by 2.2% compared with the first half of 2018. Europe (-0.6%), which generated 30% of export sales, remained practically unchanged thanks to the United Kingdom, with 3.2 billion Swiss Francs. America (+4.6%) delivered the best performance, driven by the United States, to reach 1.5 billion Swiss Francs in six months and a relative share of 14%.

Results in the main Asian markets varied widely. The slowdown in Hong Kong (-6.6%) turned into a decline, largely because of the sharp fall recorded in June. Saudi Arabia (-13.0%) and Thailand (-26.4%) also lost ground. Other markets posted sharp rises, with China (+13.5%) staying on course, along with Japan (+21.8%) and Singapore (+12.8%). South Korea (+0.9%) posted similar results to 2018.

The United Kingdom (+26.3%) ensured that Europe remained stable in the first half, thanks to an exceptional first quarter as the sector anticipated the effects of Brexit. Conversely, other European markets, such as Germany (-2.0%), France (-5.7%), Italy (-8.2%) and Spain (-2.4%) fell back.

The United States continued to perform well and represented a strong core of growth for the Swiss
watchmaking sector

(Source: Federation of the Swiss watch industry FH)