Swiss watch industry suffers biggest sales drop in six years, Apple Watch the cause of it?
Bloomberg reports that Swiss watch exports experienced their biggest drop in six years which is contributed by a 39% decrease in shipment to Hong Kong, the industry's largest market. What could possibly cause the drop in sales? The Apple Watch? Read on to find out!
Image source: Bloomberg
The tsunami that Tag Heuer's VP Guy Semon mentioned in December 2014 may have arrived.
According to Bloomberg, Swiss watch exports experienced the biggest decline in six years last month which is led by a 39% drop in shipments to the industry's largest market, Hong Kong.
Bloomberg - "2015 has been one to forget for the watchmakers,” said Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.
The Swiss customs office states that shipments decreased 12% to 2 billion Swiss francs. The first ten months of 2015 saw Swiss watch exports declined 3.2%. Luxury Swiss watch brands are feeling the hit; Tag Heuer shut a store in Hong Kong three months ago while Richemont, the maker of Cartier jewelry and IWC timepieces, said that sales declined in October due to weak demand.
Lower-end brands such as Swatch and Fossil were also affected. The latter predicts Q4 sales to drop as much as 16% due to competition from wearables. Could 7 million Apple Watches hit the Swiss watch industry so badly?
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