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Electric Power Generation

By way of noting this year’s “Earth Hour” (May 26, 2011)—as well as the ongoing challenges being faced by the Japanese as they struggle to get a damaged nuclear power plant stabilized—this week our market size items will all be related to electric energy markets.

We are voracious consumers of electricity, particularly in the industrialized world where even many toothbrushes plug into an electric outlet. Today’s market size is the size of the world’s capacity for generating electricity. Tomorrow we’ll start breaking this down by how the electric power is generated, with coal, hydroelectric dam, nuclear plant, solar panels, etc.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2008
Market size: 18,778.7 Billion Kilowatt hours
Source: “Table 1387. Net Electricity Generation by Type and Country: 2008,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 867, availalbe online here.
Original Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Sports Equipment

As basketball fans indulge in the offerings of March Madness, we look at sales of sporting equipment. Interestingly, when it comes to basketball, there is not much equipment needed, just a hoop and a ball. Basketball apparel, well, that’s another matter. Sporting apparel is not, however, included in today’s market size although it is included in the source table for those interested. Today’s market size covers a vast array of sporting equipment types, from fishing rods to golf clubs, tennis rackets to scuba tanks, and skis to fencing foils, to name but a few. Oh, and exercise equipment, included as well.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2009
Market size: $24.6 Billion
Source: “Table 1249 – Sporting Goods Sales by Product Category: 1990 to 2008, and Projection, 2009,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 770, available online here.
Original Source: National Sporting Goods Association

Sleep Clinics and Centers

Sleep for many is an illusive thing, making life very difficult and for some few the inability to sleep can be so complete that it leads to death. The fatal and extremely rare sleeping disease is called Fatal Familial Insomnia (IFF). Thankfully, for most people suffering from sleep disorders, there are a variety of remedies that may be tried to isolate the cause of the problem and then treat it. This is done, for the most troubled sleepers, in sleep clinics and centers. The market size listed below is an industry estimate of what those clinics and sleep centers will earn in 2011. Another interesting item related to sleep, in 2008, 56 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in the United States, representing a sharp increase over the proceeding years.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $4.5 Billion
Source: Max D. T., “The Secrets of Sleep,” National Geographic, May 2010, page 81.
Posted on March 24, 2011

App Store Sales

We hear a lot about “apps” these days, or application programs. But what are they, really. These are computer programs designed as standalone software to run on a variety of devices, usually mobile devices. These apps are sold through online stores and usually have a well defined and somewhat limited purpose. They usually have a filename extension “.app” for use on mobile operating systems such as Android; iOS (Apple); Linus; MeeGo; Microsoft Mobile; RIM (BlackBerry); and Symbian.

Apps are a class of products whose market is based on volume. The average price of an app is around $2.50, (reached with lots sold for 99¢ and a few sold for $9.00 plus) so a whole lot of apps had to sell in order to reach the market size presented below. There are 5 billion mobile device subscribers worldwide, according the the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Now, all mobile devices are not “smart” devices and thus are not equipped to run apps. Nonetheless, based on the fact that an estimated 10% of these 5 billion devices are smart we can calculate, very generally, that each one of these smart device owners bought just under two apps in 2010. There seems room for growth here…

As a side note, that figure of 5 billion mobile device subscribers is rather noteworthy given that the world population in 2010 was just shy of 7 billion. Food for thought.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: $2.15 Billion
Source: Whitney, Lance, “Report: Apple Remains King of App Store Market,” CNET News, February 15, 2011, available online here. Also, press release from the ITU which is available online here.
Original Source: IHS Screen Digest, February 2011

Apparel Sales

The market size presented here is based on estimates of the total retail sales value of all apparel sold in the United States in 1999 and ten years later, in 2009. The retail value of apparel sales over this period grew by 37.4% but when adjusted for inflation, that growth rate was actually only 8.4% for the period. By way of comparison, U.S. population growth over this period was 10.1% (from 279.3 million to 307.4 million). Worth noting, however, is the fact that while population had a steady growth rate over this period, the measure of growth between two points in time for something like apparel sales may be deceptive. In 2006, for example, retail sales of apparel in the United States were probably much higher than in 2009, a recessionary year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1999 and 2009
Market size: $222 and $305 Billion respectively
Source: Alva, Marilyn, “Consumers Are Spending Again But They’re Picky,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 4, 2011, page A5.
Original Source: Credit Suisse

Steel Production

The production of crude steel around the world rebounded in 2010, rising 15% over the 2009 production levels. In terms of crude steel production by nation, China led the world in 2010 with 44.32% of world production, followed by Japan with 7.75%, the United States with 5.70% and Russia with 4.47%.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: 1,414 million metric tons
Source: “World Crude Steel Output Increases by 15% in 2010,” January 21, 2011, p. NA. Available online here.
Original Source: World Steel Association
Posted on March 21, 2011

Appliances

This market size, presented for 2007 and 2010, clearly shows the impact that the recession which began in December of 2007 has had on the worldwide sale of household appliances. The market sizes listed here include retail sales of: refrigerators, other than compact refrigerators; freezers; dishwashers; ovens; ranges; range hoods; cooktops; washers and dryers.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007 and 2010
Market size: $14.2 and $13.1 Billion respectively
Source: Hagerty, James R. and Sven Grundberg, “Whirlpool and Electrolux Post Weak Results, Face Price Pressures,” Wall Street Journal, 02/03/2011, p. B6.
Original Source: NPD Group

Pollinators

An often heard or read phrase related to agricultural production goes as follows: You can thank pollinators for one out of three bites of food you eat. Of course, that assumes you have a nutritionally balanced diet. But the point is clear. One third of crops used to produce food for human consumption come from plants that depend upon pollination to reproduce. In the United States it is estimated that the value annually of crops that are pollinated by insects is $40 billion and this figure does not include the value of non-food crops that also depend upon pollinators, like cotton, for example. The market size figure presented below is an estimated value to the world every year of pollination done by insects and animals.

For anyone not familiar with pollination, it is the process by which pollen is moved from one place on a flowering plant to another. Pollen grains contain the male contribution to the fertilization process and are moved through pollination to the female parts of the plant so that offspring may be produced. Without pollination, a flowering plant will not bear fruit or seeds. Insects and some animals serve as transporters in this process, as does the wind for some plants.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: $200 Billion
Source: “Gold Dusters,” National Geographic, March 2011, page 121.
Original Source: United Nations, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). Another source of interesting information about pollination and crops is available here from the National Biological Information Infrastructure, a program administered by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Snowmobiles in the United States

The United States is a country that loves its motorized vehicles. In rural regions of the country where snow covers the landscape for nearly half the year, snowmobiles serve as both a sporting entertainment as well as a working vehicle. The United States is the largest national market for snowmobiles.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 48,599 snowmobiles sold for an estimated retail value of $414 Million.
Source: “Snowmobile Statistics,” International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, available online here.

Snowmobiles in Canada

As a country with vast expanses of land, often covered by a layer of snow, it is no wonder that Canada is the second largest national market for snowmobiles. What is remarkable is that in 2010 one snowmobile was sold in Canada for ever 912 people. So, Canada is by far the leading national market for snowmobiles on a per capita basis.

Geographic reference: Canada
Year: 2010
Market size: 37,670 snowmobiles sold for an estimated retail value of $374 Million.
Source: “Snowmobile Statistics,” International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, available online here.