The current state of the Italian eyewear industry
The current state of the Italian eyewear industry
The Italian eyewear industry occupies a leading position in the world.
It is the largest country in the production and export of high-end glasses, and the export of glasses accounts for 26% of the world's total glasses exports.
Its eyewear industry not only represents the trend of global popular styles, but also masters advanced design and manufacturing processes; Both the production of many well-known brands of glasses,
It also has one of the world's leading eyewear manufacturers.
Due to the development of the glasses industry, it has driven the continuous development and growth of the Milan International Optical Fair in Italy.
Make it a large-scale and influential professional exhibition of glasses in the world.
1. Basic situation of the operation of the Italian glasses industry The Italian glasses industry is a typical export-oriented industry.
Exports account for about 85% of its output value, and the main markets are Europe and the United States (more than 70%); Glasses companies are relatively concentrated,
IT IS MAINLY LOCATED IN THE BELLUNO EYEWEAR INDUSTRIAL AREA IN THE VENETO REGION OF NORTHERN ITALY
The industrial zone accounts for 80% of the country's eyewear production; Eyewear products are mainly engaged in the production of sunglasses and frames.
In 2008, due to the impact of the global financial crisis, the market demand in Europe and the United States fell sharply.
In addition, the purchasing power of high-end products in the domestic market has also weakened
The Italian eyewear industry has ended years of steady upward momentum, and production, sales and exports have declined.
Some small enterprises have no sustainable funds due to their weak ability to resist risks.
Enterprises had to be closed, and large and medium-sized enterprises resorted to shutting down some production equipment and reducing worker hours in order to reduce costs.
Responding to the crisis.
(1) The number of enterprises and the number of employees decreased.
According to the Italian National Association of Optical Instrument Manufacturers (ANFAO),
In 2008, the Italian eyewear industry involved a total of 1,005 enterprises, a decrease of 4% over the previous year; The number of employed people was 17,500,
This is a decrease of 5.4%.
(2) Decline in output value.
In 2008, the Italian eyewear industry achieved a total output value of 2.597 billion euros.
This represents a decrease of 6.4% from the previous year.
(3) The overall decline in exports.
In 2008, the Italian eyewear industry achieved an export value of 2.207 billion euros.
This represents a decrease of 4.7% from the previous year.
About 80 million glasses were exported, down 2.4% from the previous year.
Among them, 49.517 million sunglasses, accounting for 62% of the total; 30.61 million frames,
38%.
By product category, the export value of sunglasses was 1.422 billion euros.
a decrease of 6.9% from the previous year; Frame exports amounted to 735 million euros, a decrease of 0.5 percent.
Exports to Europe remained unchanged from the previous year, with exports to the Americas down 15.5 percent (including a 20.5 percent decline in the U.S.) and exports to Asia up 3.2 percent.
Exports to emerging market Russia continued to grow, with an increase of 27.8 percent.
(4) The trade surplus of Italian eyewear products declined.
In 2008, the trade surplus of Italian eyewear products was 1.532 billion euros.
This represents a decrease of 5.7% from the previous year.
Imported eyewear products also showed a downward trend, with a total of 675 million euros of foreign eyewear products imported throughout the year.
This represents a decrease of 2.3% from the previous year.
(5) Italy's domestic eyewear consumer market has shrunk.
In 2008, the total amount of spectacle consumption in the Italian domestic market was 1.064 billion euros.
This is a decrease of 7.3% from the previous year.
Second, since the beginning of this year, the efficiency of Italy's major glasses enterprise groups has declined sharply in the first quarter of this year.
Affected by the global economic recession and the decline in market demand, the sales revenue of major Italian eyewear manufacturers declined.
Earnings have fallen sharply.
Italy's largest eyewear maker Luxottica did not perform as expected in the first quarter.
Sales revenue was 1,312 million euros, down 6.2 percent from the prior-year quarter. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 230 million euros.
That's a 16.6% drop.
Italy's Safilo eyewear group, which ranked second, achieved sales revenue of 288 million euros.
down 11.7% from the same period last year; Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to 30.2 million euros
That's a 35.3% drop.
Italy's Marcolin, which ranked third, achieved sales revenue of 52.3 million euros.
This is down 6.5% from the same period last year.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 6.9 million euros
This is a decrease of 36.1%.
3. The number of exhibitors and visitors at the 2009 Milan International Optical Fair in Italy decreased.
After years of development, the Milan International Optical Fair has become the world's largest professional optical exhibition.
The new styles and technologies introduced at the exhibition are guiding the fashion, trends and trends of global eyewear consumption
It is also known as the "barometer" of the eyewear industry.
In 2008, the exhibition area was 180,000 square meters, with 1,246 exhibitors.
The number of professional visitors reached 46,000.
This year's exhibition was affected by the economic crisis, and the business was sluggish.
The number of professional visitors and buyers decreased by 9% compared to last year, and the number of exhibitors also decreased.
As a result, the exhibition area has been reduced by 10% compared to last year.
Fourth, the basic situation of the main Italian eyewear production groups and the cooperation with China (1) Luxottica Group was established in 1961.
After significant cross-border mergers and acquisitions in recent years, the group has now become the largest Italian and world-renowned eyewear manufacturer.
It integrates design, production and distribution, and is listed on the Milan and New York stock exchanges.
Annual sales of around 5.2 billion euros and employment of 61,000 people,
It produces eyewear products from 12 private label brands such as Ray-Ban and 19 premium licensed brand series such as Chanel, Prada and D&G.
The Group's production sites are mainly located in Italy and China, and it also has a global retail network of 3,800 regions.
In addition to the Luxottica Group's eyewear production base in Dongguan, Guangdong, China, which mainly produces plastic and metal frames,
Since 2005, it has also successively acquired three high-end glasses retail chain brands: Beijing Xueliang Glasses Company, Guangzhou Minglang Glasses Company and Shanghai Modern Optical Glasses Company.
Become the largest wholly foreign-owned eyewear retailer in the Chinese market.
(2) Safilo Eyewear Group (Safilo) was founded in 1934.
It is the second largest eyewear manufacturer in Italy and the second largest eyewear manufacturer in the world after the Luxottica Group.
Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
The group has a team of more than 100 professional designers, providing more than 2,500 new popular styles every year.
Annual sales revenue of 1.15 billion euros, 8,800 jobs,
It manufactures products from 5 private label brands such as Safilo and 28 authorized brands such as Dior and Emporio Armani.
The group has 6 production bases, 170 independent distributors and 130,000 retail outlets.
Among the production bases, there are 3 in Italy, 1 in the United States, and 1 in Slovenia.
China has 1.
The Safilo Group's wholly-owned production subsidiary in China is Safilo Eyewear Industry (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.
Located in Suzhou Industrial Park, the total investment scale is 18.3 million US dollars,
The main production of brand frames, sunglasses and other products will be put into operation in the second half of 2009.
In addition, the group has also set up wholly-owned trading companies in Shenzhen, Shanghai and other cities.
Responsible for the sales of the group's products in China.
(3) Marcolin Group (Marcolin) Marcolin Eyewear Group is a well-known high-end glasses manufacturer in Italy.
Ranked third in the Italian eyewear industry, it is also listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
The annual sales revenue is about 187 million euros, and the number of employees is about 1,000.
The European and American markets account for 80% of its sales revenue.
There are two production plants in Italy, each producing products under the Marcolin own brand and 15 authorized brand collections such as TOD'S and Montblanc.
The products are sold in more than 80 countries and regions, and there are 40,000 sales outlets around the world.
To sum up, due to the poor business conditions of the Italian eyewear industry in the first few months of this year,
Italy's National Association of Optical Instrument Manufacturers (ANFAO) also has a negative outlook for the industry as a whole this year.
The meeting pointed out that the current economic crisis has not yet bottomed out, and many uncertain factors will still affect demand.
2009 is expected to be a challenging year for the Italian eyewear industry as a whole.
(Written by Fu Yunyan, Economic and Commercial Office of the Consulate General in Milan).