Sales of flat-panel televisions in South Africa soared by 66% to more than 93 000 units in the South Africa in the week of Black Friday, according to new tracking data from researcher GfK. This builds on the 47% growth over 2016 recorded during the week of Black Friday in 2017.

Retailers sold about 29 000 panel televisions in the week of Cyber Monday (the week after Black Friday), indicating that Black Friday deals are rapidly taking over more of the month of November, GfK said in a statement on Wednesday. On average, retailers sold around 16 000 units per week in the weeks preceding the week of Black Friday.

“Hype about panel television sales has definitively shifted from December to November as consumers look out for the best Black Friday deals before committing their money,” said Kali Moahloli, head of sales & retail at GfK South Africa. “Compared to two Black Fridays ago, 2018 Black Friday panel TV sales have grown by 151% in units.”

During the Black Friday week:

Entry-level TV models (less than R3 000) had a 42.8% share of panel TV unit sales, but accounted for only 19.7% of revenues;
Premium models (R6 500 and above) made up a quarter of panel TV unit sales and more than half (52.7%) of panel TV revenues;
Mid-tier models (R3 000-R6 499) made up around a third of panel TV unit sales for the week and around 27.6% of revenues.

Smartphone sales growth was not as strong. In the Black Friday week, smartphone unit sales grew by 3.9% compared to the same week last year, to just over 350 000 units.

“This represents a sharp drop in growth from 2017 when smartphone unit sales for the Black Friday week leapt 63% over the same week of 2016,” the company said. Some 308 000 smartphone units were sold the week after Black Friday 2018. During the weeks preceding Black Friday, South African retailers sold an average of 220 000 smartphone units a week.

During the Black Friday week:

Entry-level smartphones (costing less than R1 000) accounted for 36.5% of units sold, but only 8.4% of the value of smartphone sales;
Premium phones (R7 000 and above) accounted for just 8.5% of unit sales, but comprised 43.6% of the value of sales;
Mid-tier units (R1 000 to R6 999) made up 55% of unit sales and around 48% of the value of smartphone sales.

“Slower smartphone sales growth can be attributed to consumers taking strain from a weak economy and from the gradual saturation of the market,” said Moahloli. “December is traditionally a stronger month for smartphone sales than November, which is unlike the panel TV market where sales trend downwards after Black Friday.” — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media