After a quiet month of March, watch exports picked up strongly again in April. Their value amounted to 1.4 billion francs, representing a very high rate of growth of 22.4%. April benefited from advantages that were conspicuous by their absence in March: three working days more than in2007 and a less unfavourable base effect. The cumulative value since the beginning of the year rose to5.2 billion francs (+15.5%). At an annual rate, the increase was 15.7% at the end of April.
Exports of wristwatches saw their value increase in all materials. Steel and gold set the pace, while bimetallic products fell back slightly. The number of pieces rose spectacularly by 350,000 units in April. Steel contributed greatly to this resurgence, along with timepieces manufactured from other metals (mainly aluminium) and other materials.
Wristwatches costing less than 500 francs (export price) showed a uniform increase of just over20% both in value terms and by number of pieces. The 500-3,000 francs segment was lessdynamic, posting an increase in value terms of 7.0%. Timepieces costing more than 3,000 francs saw theirvolumes increase on a par with the industry average, while their value increased by more than 30%.
Hong Kong firmly established itself as the leading Swiss market, thanks in particular to a robustperformance in April. The United States made do with one of the most modest rates of increase in the list, while Japan continued to lose ground. France remained the most attractive of traditional European markets. China moved up to seventh place, thanks to growth of 86.8%. Russia however registered a net decline of 17.9%.
Source: FHS
