Industrial design in Italy

This report supplies information on the industrial design Italian market and its competitors: market trends, SWOT and key success factors analysis, major companies performance indicators (total turnover, sector specific turnover, market shares and export quotas), business prospects and trends.

Scope

The market in question comprises companies which distinguish themselves for technological innovation and innovative forms and materials, elements that are normally contemplated in definitions of industrial design. The focus of the report is on manufacturers of lighting devices and furnishings that are mainly for interior use in the home.

Specifically, the report analyses the following market segments:

• Interior home lighting devices;
• Kitchen furnishings;
• Furniture for bedrooms and living areas, including upholstered furniture (sofas and upholstered chairs).

Production technology: varies by market segment.

• Lighting devices are supports for light sources manufactured using technologies appropriate for processing the many different materials used (mainly wood, metal and glass, but also specific types of fabric and paper).
• Furniture production involves a broad variety of technologies ranging from woodworking and metalworking to the processing of plastics, laminates, and upholstery fabrics (cotton, Alcantara, natural and synthetic leather, etc.).

Use: above and beyond the specific practical uses specific to each market segment (lighting and furnishings), addressing various associated needs (preparing/storing foods, socializing, relaxing, sleeping, reading, etc.), design satisfies an aesthetic need for elegance of forms and materials.

Client groups:

• Direct customers are the distribution channels. In the case of design, these are prevalently specialised retailers and furniture stores.
• Final customers: private individuals for household lighting and furnishings; the contract furnishings market for hotels, museums, ships and automobiles (exclusive models).

Segments

The market analysed in this report is the high-end production of the relative sectors, in terms of quality of materials, and stylistic and technological innovation.

The segmentation of this market is defined in part by the product categories themselves:

• Interior lighting devices for residential and decorative use: furnishing objects for the home and for public facilities (e.g., hotels, restaurants, museums);
• Furniture, which may be further broken down into two main areas: kitchen furnishings and furniture for bedrooms (night-time areas) and living rooms (day-time areas).

A further segmentation is represented by the outlet market for the design object: residential or public (contract).

Methodology

Databank’s methodology for Competitors reports begins with a careful screening to identify the main organisations that are representative of a given sector. Several one-to-one interviews are then conducted with the selected organisations. Questionnaires are sent to all the leading companies on an annual basis. The information collected is then verified by an expert in the particular sector using a system of counterchecks to guarantee that the information is entirely reliable and consistent. The process is then completed using Cerved Group’s proprietary information about Italian enterprises. All Competitors reports also include details concerning the strategies and performances of the leading companies in each sector.

Wherever no specific source is indicated, the information published in these reports can be assumed to have been taken from Cerved Group’s proprietary information bank. Coverage of any sector in Competitors products may be used in company presentations or in training courses on the subject.