Morgan Stanley in collaboration with LuxeConsult has finally released its annual Swiss watch industry analysis for the year 2021 and it’s more interesting than what we were expecting. Well, it’s not a surprise that Rolex continues to dominate the Swiss watch industry and has managed to retain the top spot yet again. But what’s fascinating is the stellar growth shown by the renowned watch brand. The annual report states that Rolex generated a record-setting revenue of CHF 8.05 billion (not too far away from $9 billion) at wholesale, which translates to over CHF 12 billion (about $13 billion) at retail, excluding VAT.
According to the report, Rolex’s market share in terms of sales revenue swelled to 29% from 25% last year. When you combine with it Tudor’s market share, it further rises to over 30%, which represents almost a third of the entire Swiss watch sales. If we compare data from the last few years, the report reveals some surprising facts. Rolex’s previous record revenue came in the year 2019 by selling watches worth CHF 5.2 billion (about $5.6 billion), which considerably dropped in 2020 due to the pandemic. Comparing 2021 with 2019, Rolex made a stellar growth of almost 60% in terms of revenue. However, the report suggests that there was a marginal increase in average prices and units produced. According to Morgan Stanley, the rise in revenue can be attributed to Rolex’s decision to replace some models with more expensive variants, which could have resulted in at least a 5% rise in total revenue.
The annual report further states that the global market for Swiss watches grew by 31.2% in 2021 as compared to 2020. However, the figure is less impressive when analyzed against 2019, which suggests the industry witnessed a marginal growth of 2.7% over the pre-pandemic year. Omega is a distant second with a 7.5% share of the sales revenue, which further demonstrates the dominant position of Rolex in the Swiss watchmaking industry. But are we really surprised? Rolex is not only is one of the most recognized high-end Swiss watch brands across the globe but its watches are also great investments for its buyers. Recently, a report by Bob’s Watches suggested that investing in Rolex watches actually will give you a better return than stocks, gold, and even real estate.
[Via – Watch Pro]
