ZURICH: Swiss watch exports fell 9.9 per cent last year, their sharpest drop since the financial crisis, as big markets such as Hong Kong and the US continued to shrink. Luxury groups grapple with ‘crisis of the Chinese wrist’ as Hong Kong shipments decline 25%.
Trading had “remained difficult throughout the year” in 2016 as demand fell, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) said on Thursday, “especially for the most expensive products”. It said changing consumption habits, the strength of the Swiss franc and the decline of tourism in Europe also hurt sales.
The figures come after the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie watch fair in Geneva last week, where luxury brand executives were clear about why the fall had been so sustained.
Daniel Riedo, chief executive of Jaeger-LeCoultre, said there had been complacency among brands: “The luxury market is sometimes a bit greedy and when you have five years of double-digit growth you have . . . bad habits.” He added that watchmakers had to relearn how to sell to Hong Kongers, now that mainland Chinese were not visiting the territory in such high numbers.
Total exports in 2016 were SFr19.4bn ($19.4bn), their lowest level since 2011, and 13 of the 15 biggest markets had contracted, the FHS said. It marks the steepest drop since the 22.3 per cent fall in 2009. Shipments to Hong Kong, the largest market, declined 25 per cent and are down by half in four years, to SFr2.4bn. Exports to the US dropped 9.1 per cent.
