Published on June 24, 2005

Mid-range watch sales have been hammered down by 20 per cent in the year to last month, while luxury watches have shrugged off the economic blues to keep advancing, an industry expert said yesterday.

“Buyers have become concerned about their future income, so they’re delaying making a decision to buy a new watch,” said Krisda Mahadumrongkul, director of C Thong Panich Ltd, the country’s largest watch retailer.

Customer interest in watches selling between Bt15,000 and Bt40,000 has softened since the first quarter due mainly to rising oil prices, not only here but also in European and Asian markets except China. “Demand for mid- to upper-range watches in China is still growing after the country opened up to imports,” he said.

Watches priced above Bt50,000 continue to enjoy brisk sales, but mid-range models make up 80 per cent of the total market valued at Bt1.4 billion last year.

C Thong Panich’s sales were down 3 per cent over the first five months of this year.

“Our sales have continued to grow in the fancy watch market so we did not get a hard blow from the market slowdown, however we have to work hard to boost sales for the rest of this year,” he said.

To maintain its sales at Bt600 million this year, the company will embark on an aggressive marketing campaign and introduce more watch models to its product lines, including Mido, Citizen, Hamilton and Ball. One of the new timepieces will be a fireman’s model, an ultimate combat watch suitable for all night activities. This is the first automatic watch from Ball that is priced between Bt28,000 and Bt32,000.

Somluck Srimalee

The Nation

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