he 38th edition of the HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair and the seventh edition of the Salon de TE took place from 3-7 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The fairs welcomed close to 18,000 buyers from 104 countries and regions. Satisfactory growth was recorded in buyer attendance from emerging markets such as Brazil, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam, along with established markets such as Belgium and Switzerland. Benjamin Chau, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, said: “Despite the continuation of Sino-US trade friction, global exhibitors and buyers still view the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair as a premier one-stop trading platform. The fairs attracted renowned watch and clock brands, retailers and wholesalers.”

The HKTDC commissioned an independent market research agency to conduct an on-site survey, interviewing 839 buyers and exhibitors about their views on market prospects and product trends.

Regarding the market outlook in 2020, respondents who expected to see overall sales remain steady or grow represented 48% and 32% respectively. In terms of product trends, smart watches (31%), automatic watches (22%), digital analogue watches (18%) and quartz analogue watches (14%) were viewed as the most popular categories for 2020. Watches that can interact with smart devices (51%) were predicted by respondents to be the most prevalent product development strategy for the coming year.

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