TERRITORY REPORT: GREECE 22 MCV 16/07/10
WWW.MCVUK.COM
200 400 600 800 1000
0
INSTALLED BASES UPDATED TO MAY 2010 1m
800k 600k 400k 200k 0
Household Penetration
PS2 28%
DS 8%
There are PCs in 1 in 4 households
* Wii and DS installed bases have been revised downwards since the last Sept 09 estimate following a revision in data from Nortec.
PSP 7%
TOTAL GAMES MARKET VALUE SW: -10% YoY
e150m e120m
120 150
e55m
e90m e60m e30m
30 60 90
e0 0 2008 2009 Greece is the word
A regular star of today’s headlines, Greece is currently facing economic turmoil. James Batchelor looks at how the ongoing recession has affected the nation’s games industry and retail scene…
MARKET OVERVIEW
As one of the last countries to be affected by the recession, Greece is still suffering its economic impact. The Government plans to counter this with a loan package and periodic increases in VAT, which are expected to have some impact on retail. However, Greece’s games industry
remains optimistic. In 2009, local sources estimated the games market value at approximately e129m, of which software made up e50m. After growth in previous years, the total market in 2009 was flat due to lower software sales. Despite the recession’s effect on
consumer spending in terms of software,
hardware revenues still grew by over 7.5 per cent year-on-year and hardware values account for over 60 per cent of the overall market. Hardware sales have always been
strong in Greece, particularly for the DS and PS3 – the latter of which saw a 70 per cent increase in sales. The PS2 also has a strong presence, found in over 25 per cent of homes. In terms of software sales, the Wii is
the weakest format available in Greece, partly because casual gaming has been slower to catch on than in other markets. This is partly due the fact that children’s games are rarely localised.
RETAIL
Greece’s games retail scene is still primarily led by the High Street, although European hypermarts Media Markt and Carrefour have expanded their presence over the past year. The biggest problem facing Greek
retailers is the VAT increases designed to combat the recession. The effects have been tough, even causing Fnac to pull out of the market. “The debt crisis has led to several
increases of up to 23 per cent in sales tax in the last six months,” says Michael Misirlis, product manager at distributor Beacon Multimedia. “As a result, retail prices have gone up, margins have
been reduced and everyone is struggling. On a brighter note, the recognisable brands have not taken a hit in terms of sales, with impressive day one sales on many titles in the last year.” The situation is not helped by the
rise of grey imports, with more Greeks purchasing their games from the UK. This has particularly benefited smaller independent retailers. Distributor CD Media’s marketing manager Nat Kyriakis adds: “We estimate that the parallel imports are now accounting for between 35 and 45 per cent of the total market, which is bearing a strong impact on our sales.”
360 3%
PS3 6%
WII 4%
SOFTWARE UNIT SALES SPLIT IN 2009
HW: +7.5% YoY e50m 20% PC e74m e80m 80% Console and Handheld
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52