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Growth in total home and garden current value sales in Mexico in 2013 was down slightly on 2012. This was mainly due to a slowdown in the domestic economy, which dampened consumer confidence, though total current value growth was also tempered by the rising penetration of cheaper imported products in many categories. Nonetheless, demographic trends continued to support steady growth in the total number of households in Mexico, and this helped to ensure that growth in total home and garden...

Generally, consumers spend money on pet toys and such products when they first buy their pet, and only when necessary after that. Due to a uniquely cold winter in 2013, many bought their pets clothing to keep them warm. Many pets live in centrally-heated houses, which means their bodies are accustomed to warmth. Therefore, when they are taken for walks, despite their warming layer of fur, they can feel very cold. To counteract this, many pet owners invested in clothes for their pets, which was one reason pet products registered slightly faster growth in 2013 than in 2012.

In 2013 the Mexican sportswear market benefitted from the opening of Under Armour flagship stores and the arrival of Reef in a commercial venture with El Puerto de Liverpool. Also the fast growth of internet retailers such as NetShoes.com brought new opportunities to leading brands, mostly those that sponsor Mexican soccer teams. To wear top brands and newly launched products has become important amongst the Mexican population, which has made pre-sales or exclusive sales for fans a common practice to boost sales. Those brands and retailers offer status and exclusiveness amongst consumers and create a high expectation for those who are not able to participate or acquire the product.

Sales of luxury goods were maintained at a healthy level despite posting slower current value growth in 2013. Affluent consumers in Taiwan remained unaffected by the sluggish economy and continued with steady demand for luxury goods. Rising numbers of mainland Chinese tourists with high spending powers and a strong desire for luxury brands also attributed to growth of luxury goods in Taiwan.

Tourism in Cape Town is poised for significant growth as the city continues to be a leading African destination for leisure visitors from Europe and the US, whilst arrivals from emerging markets such as China, India and Russia are addressing the gap for long-stay business travel. Domestic and regional tourism growth is helping mitigate seasonality and new events such as the World Design Capital 2014 are giving the city the opportunity to finally be perceived as an all year round destination.

MarketLine's Company Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Partnerships & Alliances and Investments reports offer a comprehensive breakdown of the organic and inorganic growth activity undertaken by an organization to sustain its competitive advantage.

Sales of sun care products are highly seasonal in the Czech Republic, purchased by consumers mostly during hot and sunny weather. Therefore, demand depends heavily on the weather conditions in the country, which were not particularly good in 2013. Frequent changes in weather and a lack of product innovation saw the category achieve fairly weak current value growth of 1%.

An LED is a semiconductor device/light source that emits visible light or infrared light when an electric charge passes through it. LEDs are primarily used in indicator lamps and for other types of lighting such as that used in billboard signs, TV remotes, and brake lights of vehicles. Initially, LEDs would only emit a low-intensity red light. Currently, however, LEDs are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths. They work on the principle of electroluminescence, wherein the color of illumination is determined by the energy band gap of the semiconductor. A UV LED displays an ultraviolet light; its wavelength is less than 400 nm. The compact nature and superior performance of UV LEDs is driving new and innovative applications including:

With the majority of household spending currently put on hold, it is likely to accelerate rapidly once the country's economy shows signs of stable growth. Also, as wage levels are rather low by Western European standards, the projected income convergence with medium European levels is expected to have a significant effect on consumer purchasing power in the near future

Natural look, multi-functionality and convenience were some of the key trends affecting colour cosmetics in Finland. The popularity of the new CC creams manifested these trends in 2013. While 2012 witnessed a wave of BB creams entering colour cosmetics in Finland, the following year was dominated by new CC cream product launches. CC creams provide a stronger coverage than BB creams and help to hide redness or imperfections of the skin as well as give a more radiant look to the skin. These products generated plenty of consumer interest, since they were seen as simple tool for getting clearer skin.

2013 witnessed the growth of larger pack sizes, including multi-packs and larger volume roll sizes. Multi-packs were evident in toilet paper, kitchen towels and pocket tissues. Larger volume in terms of more sheets per roll continued to be popular in toilet paper, which extended into kitchen towels during 2013. Meanwhile, boxed tissues also introduced larger box sizes, particularly through private label.

GlobalData's new report, "South Korea Esophagoscopes & Gastroscopes Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the South Korea Esophagoscopes & Gastroscopes market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and average prices (in US dollars) within market segments - Flexible Video Esophagoscopes, Flexible Non-Video (Fibre) Gastroscopes and Flexible Video Gastroscopes.

Trends and Opportunities in the UAE Non-Life Insurance Industry to 2017: Market Profile is the result of extensive research into the non life insurance segment in the UAE. It provides insights into the market trends, market size, growth prospects and market efficiency in the United Arab Emirates non life insurance market, and also provides detailed analysis of various distribution channels in the non life insurance market.

Home Improvement Retail in Canada industry profile provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including: market size (value 2009-13, and forecast to 2018). The profile also contains descriptions of the leading players including key financial metrics and analysis of competitive pressures within the market. Essential resource for top-line data and analysis covering the Canada home improvement retail market. Includes market size and segmentation data, textual and graphical analysis of market growth trends, leading companies and macroeconomic information.

Even though bleach is necessary, especially for stain removal, many users have been turning to alternatives thus slowing down the growth of bleach. The value growth rate in 2013 was slower at 9% as compared to 2012 when an increase of 10% was recorded. Continued awareness campaigns that put bleach in a negative light as a health hazard, as well as the continuing search for alternatives, contributed greatly to the slowdown. Nevertheless, many consumers still perceive that bleach offers the best results for disinfection and stain removal.

The term lysosomal storage diseases refers to a group of rare inherited disorders caused by the deficiency of lysosomal enzymes, activator proteins, proteins required for normal post-translational modification of lysosomal enzymes or proteins required for intracellular transport between lysosome and other cellular compartments. These deficiencies result in deficient enzymatic activity which, in turn, leads to accumulation of partially digested or undigested macromolecules inside the cell. The clinical manifestations of lysosomal storage diseases depend on the type of substrate stored, cell types affected by this storage, and resulting organ involvement. Due to the high variability of these components, the clinical manifestations of even a single disease vary from person to person. These symptoms also vary between members of the same family with identical mutations. The age of onset also varies for lysosomal storage diseases depending on the rate of substrate accumulation. Lysosomal storage diseases are classified on the basis of the substrate being accumulated or on the type of molecular defect associated with the disease. Neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinoses vary from classical lysosomal storage diseases where the component that gets accumulated is mitochondrial ATP synthase subunit C or sphingolipid activator proteins A and D.

According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau's statistics, the number of Taiwanese nationals travelling abroad grew by 7% and 8% in 2012 and 2013 respectively. These increases in outbound travel were largely due to declining travel costs and changing lifestyle values among younger consumers, who perceived travelling to be a necessity rather than a luxury. The increase in travel activity led to an overall boost of sales of luxury travel goods in 2013.

The performance of deodorants in 2013 was similar to that of the previous two years, with the category recording current value growth of 1% as no significant changes were seen. The most popular products remained male and female-specific deodorants with no added benefits as these products were available at affordable prices.

Since 2006, smoking prevalence showed a continuous decreasing trend as the result of the anti-tobacco legislation actions which included limitations on tobacco advertisement and the ban of smoking in public places. These actions resulted in smokers reducing the amount of tobacco they consume and reduced the number of new smokers.

Finnish women continued to search for longer lasting hair removal options. This was evident in the increasing popularity of epilators, waxing, sugaring as well as in the most extreme cases laser or light impulse hair removals. Shavers run the risk of becoming out-dated since they are seen as more likely to cause aesthetic problems and unpleasant after affects such as in-growing hair and other skin irritation to many consumers. When weighing up the different hair removal options, Finnish women consider various aspects such as cost, convenience, pain and long-lasting results.

Nuclear power plants convert heat produced by nuclear fission reaction into electricity and use uranium as a fuel. Heat generated inside the nuclear reactor from the nuclear fission is used to convert water into steam, which drives the turbo generator.

In 2013, hair care benefited from increasing consumer demand for higher-quality products which offer strong protection. Thus, medicated shampoos, 2-in-1 products and colourants were particularly popular. However, the growth of these categories was to some extent offset by the declining popularity of the biggest categories, namely standard shampoos and styling agents. Nevertheless, in 2013, hair care posted positive current value growth of 1%.

Other hot drinks increased by 6% in 2013 in total volume terms, to reach 21,300 tonnes, and mainly consists of two product types, chocolate-based flavoured powder drinks and other plant-based hot drinks. Average Russian incomes increased during the review period, meaning that consumers can afford to spend more on hot drinks. The health and wellness trend is also actively growing the popularity of chicory.

While economic growth showed improvement over low 2012 rates, GDP growth and private consumption in 2013 lagged behind estimates. Following weak economic conditions in the previous year, consumer confidence remained low as Taiwanese consumers reduced unnecessary spending. Stagnant wages, price hikes in oil, electricity, rent, and food had a negative effect on consumer apparel and footwear expenditure and drove spending toward cheaper alternatives offered through hypermarkets, online retailers...

GlobalData's new report, "Russia Esophagoscopes & Gastroscopes Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the Russia Esophagoscopes & Gastroscopes market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and average prices (in US dollars) within market segments - Flexible Video Esophagoscopes, Flexible Non-Video (Fibre) Gastroscopes and Flexible Video Gastroscopes.