Asia Pacific

There was huge demand for televisions in the country little more than a decade ago. During the period 2009-2011, two drivers pushed up sales of televisions significantly. One was the shift of broadcasting from analogue to digital in July 2011. The…

2023 is set to be another year of volume decline for home audio and cinema. Indeed, sales in the category have been decreasing for over a decade. It is clear that the decrease is due to a structural shift in how consumers engage with music. This has…

Headphones in Japan saw fairly flat sales in 2022, and this is set to continue in 2023. Both in volume and current value terms, these two years are set to see growth or declines of less than 1%. Looking at category performances in volume terms,…

2022 was a difficult year for players in consumer electronics. Price increases on materials, including semiconductor chips, and the weakened Japanese yen made it difficult for brands to secure profits. Some could easily apply price increases for…

2020 was an unprecedented year globally, and this was reflected in computers in Japan. Being the most used operating system for computers, the launch of a new Windows OS and the end of support of a Windows OS were key triggers for replacement…

Economic freedom is negatively impacted by authoritarianism in China, with the state becoming increasingly repressive. The zero-COVID-19 policy has adversely affected the economy, but removal of restrictions could result in strong short-term…

Thailand is prone to bouts of political instability, which has adversely affected economic freedom. Moreover, the military’s stranglehold and the influence of the monarch over politics have weakened the rule of law. Returning tourism has helped to…

Pakistan’s ‘repressed’ status for economic freedom is largely due to political instability and the undue influence of the military. The economy performed better than peers, but suffers from high inflation and interest rates that suppress growth,…

Weakness in the rule of law negatively impacts economic freedom in Kazakhstan and the state’s authoritarian tendencies remain, but government finances are solid. Although the economy is set to perform relatively well, the export base is undiversified…

China’s increasing influence on Hong Kong’s political scene continues to undermine democracy. The economy is expected to recover well and inflation is under control, but the currency’s peg to the US dollar is leading to higher borrowing costs.…

South Korea relaxed the bulk of its COVID-19 restrictions in April-May 2022, triggering a return to pre-pandemic out-of-home lifestyles. This, in turn, helped drive volume sales in beauty and personal care categories that consumers use when going…

Skin care packaging continued to record a healthy unit volume sales increase in Vietnam in 2022, with its leading pack type – squeezable plastic tubes – also continuing to grow. This pack type is popular thanks to being lightweight, durable and…

As society fully reopened with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, beauty and personal care packaging unit volume sales increased in the Philippines in 2022 after its performances in the previous two years had been negatively impacted by the…

While folding cartons and HDPE bottles remained the leading pack types in beauty and personal care packaging in Thailand in 2022, squeezable plastic tubes were recording stronger growth in this year. Squeezable plastic tubes have become popular due…

For beauty and personal care packaging, HDPE bottles continued to be the leading pack type in Singapore in unit volume terms in 2022. HDPE is known for its excellent durability and strength, which ensures that the contents are safeguarded from…

Plastic pollution is becoming an increasingly pressing concern the world over, and Malaysia is no different. In an effort to minimise the amount of plastic waste it generates, Colgate-Palmolive introduced 100% recyclable HDPE tubes for its toothpaste…

Although their packaging unit volumes were down slightly in 2022, bath additives have recorded significant growth in Japan in recent years as Japanese consumers believe in the cultural significance of bathing, which goes beyond mere hygiene to…

In 2022, Indonesian consumers resumed their pre-pandemic, out-of-home lifestyles as COVID-19 restrictions were fully lifted in this year. This drove retail unit volume sales of deodorants as consumers returned to schools and offices. As a result,…

Hair care packaging, which is the biggest category in beauty and personal care in unit volume terms, continued to record positive growth in 2022, driven by increased consumer awareness of hair care and a focus on personal grooming, which is helping…

In 2022, HDPE bottles and folding cartons continued to be the largest pack types in unit volume terms in beauty and personal packaging in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a strong consumer culture that values aesthetic appeal and luxury, and folding cartons…