Electronics market in Turkey fastest in Europe

Turkish people's interest in electronics made Turkey the fastest growing market of the field in Europe. Cellphone, television and IT product sales were the greatest contributors to the market growing 14 percent last year. The cellphone market which managed to grow 20 percent despite the installment payment restrictions introduced on credit cards proved that cellphones are indispensable devices for Turkish people. There is almost no age restriction in use of cellphones since even primary school students start to use them nowadays. The fast growth of social media is also parallel with the rise in the use of cellphones.

The boom observed in Turkey's electronics market attracts the companies at home and abroad. The only foreign company in the market, Media Markt extended its aim in Turkey. The company highlighting Turkey as the fastest growing market among the 15 countries in which it operates opened 10 stores last year. Having 39 stores in total in Turkey, Media Markt will open one big store in Diyarbakır and five small stores in other cities. Media Markt Turkey CEO Bülent Gürcan said that the growth rate of the Turkish market attracted the company's headquarters in Germany. Pointing out that the cellphone market will grow 16 percent by 2020, Gürcan stated that "Young people are very interested in electronics. Turkish economy is growing, which increases our appetite as a foreign company. Besides, television, tablet and notebook markets are also growing. Naturally, we would like to strengthen our position in those markets."

Saying that they gained a significant momentum in e-commerce in a short time, Gürcan noted that turnover in e-commerce reached a share of 4.5 percent in all sales. He further added that their objective is for this figure to reach 10 percent in 2016, remarking that "Turkey is the fastest growing third country after Germany and Austria in terms of e-commerce."