Even watches suffer the crisis. And we are not talking about niche products, but about the famous Swiss watches which for some time now have not been able to come close to the sales records of the past.
The trend was also confirmed by the data on exports released yesterday by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry: -14,2% in July on an annual basis to 1,6 billion Swiss francs (1,4 billion euro).
The debacle was caused in particular by the deep decline achieved by Hong Kong, the main outlet market for the products, which lost 32,7% (eighteenth consecutive month of decline for the Asian region). Exports to France are also bad (-27,8%).
“The month of July was not very favorable for Swiss watch exports” admitted the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FHS) in a statement, specifying that “the two fewer working days this year certainly penalized the sector in part, but they weren't decisive,” he added. Adjusted for the number of working days, the decline is limited to 5,9% per annum.
The decline does not only concern products intended for the elite, but practically all price ranges, from those under 200 francs to those above 3.000.
Have the most famous watches in the world gone out of fashion or is there a precise reason behind the decline? According to Swissquote analysts: “The main reason why the demand for watches has dropped to such an extent is certainly attributable to the overvaluation of the Swiss franc, so much so that it is very difficult to predict its recovery as long as the currency remains so high”
