zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

A friend of mine in the retail watch industry attends Basel each year. He brought me back a booklet that was a guide to the show. It included some 2007 statistics on the Swiss watch industry that I found interesting.

As Mark Twain said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics." So consider the source (the Swiss watch industry) and take the information with a grain of salt.

In 2007, the Swiss watch industry exported CHF 15,960 million (or CHF 16 billion) and 25.9 million units of wristwatches. CHF 1,161 million of those sales weren't wristwatches. That translates to an average sales price of CHF 572.

By material, steel watches were 58% of the units sold and 42% of the value. If I interpolated correctly, that translates to an average steel watch price of CHF 424.

The Swiss exported more mechanical watches than electronic for the first time in 2001. The gap has widened ever since. Mechanical exports were CHF 9,944 million and electronic was CHF 4,855 million.

The US was the largest market for Swiss exports, at CHF 2,440.9 million or 15.3%, but essentially the same as Hong Kong at 15.2%.

By country

USA 15.3%
Hong Kong 15.2%
Japan 7.6%
Italy 6.4%
France 6.2%
Other 49.3%

By continent

Asia 44% (21% outside of Hong Kong and Japan, with no other country more than 6%)
Europe 34% (21% outside of Italy and France, with no other country more than 6%)
Americas 20% (4.7% outside of the USA)
Oceania 1%
Africa 1%

So, Russia and China are markets less than 5% of Swiss exports.

I was interested in how much per capita each country spent. The world population in 2007 was about 6,671 billion, compared to CHF 15,690 million (16 billion) in Swiss watch exports or a worldwide per capita expenditure on Swiss watches of CHF 2.39. Not a particularly meaningful number, except for comparing countries.

By country

USA -- CHF 8.14
Hong Kong -- CHF 346.56 (my guess is not all of those watches stay in the country!!!)
Japan -- CHF 9.70
Italy -- CHF 17.02
France -- CHF 16.49
Other -- CHF 1.29

By continent

Asia -- CHF 1.79
Europe -- CHF 7.48
Americas -- CHF 3.59
Oceania CHF 4.84
Africa -- CHF 0.18

Sam aka Hewybaby