Swiss watches could become cheaper in following years, because Swiss watch exports fell by 9.9% last year, the most significant decline in seven years, following the slowdown in global demand.
After several years of record growth, exports of watches fell in 2016 by 3.3% to 21.5 billion Swiss francs (21.2 billion dollars) announced Thursday Federation of Swiss Watchmaking Industry (FHS ). Is the most significant annual decline since 2009, when it registered a decrease of 22%. The total number of watches exported in 2016 fell to 25.4 million, also the lowest level since 2009.
Swiss Watchmaking Industry Federation said that exports to Hong Kong, the biggest market, fell by almost 25% last year, while deliveries to China were down 4.7%, although there was an improvement to end in December was recorded an increase of 5.5%. Demand for luxury watches has been affected by the anti-corruption campaign launched by the Chinese government to reduce the number of Chinese tourists who bought watches in Europe, and the development of smart watches category.
The Swiss company Richemont in 2016 spent over 200 million euros (215 million dollars) to buy back unsold watches and fired about 200 employees who manufactured the famous Cartier watches, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin. Richemont reported sales growth of watches in their own stores in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Swiss Watchmaking Industry Federation expects a stabilization of the market this year, there are already signs of recovery.
