The Hindu Business Line : Local flavour add-ons to make microwaves more attractive

CONSUMER durables manufacturers are upbeat about the market trend in the microwave oven category. To push sales and increase their distribution network, most of the major players of the industry have chalked out strategies which include the launch of new product variants in the category.

According to a Francis Kanoi Marketing Research survey, top seven metros account for a major chunk of sales in the category (almost 64 per cent in 2001-02). It also reveals that Delhi alone is the largest market for microwave ovens followed closely by Maharashtra, and Punjab at number three.

Interestingly, States such as Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, which are expected to have higher exposure to the product, feature lower down in the ranking. Small towns and rural areas are lagging behind at four per cent of the total 1.84 lakh-unit market.

Finding a stagnant market in most of the home appliances product categories, players such as LG Electronics India Ltd, Samsung India Electronics Ltd, and Whirlpool of India Ltd are all pulling up their socks to exploit the low penetration levels of the product in India.

Not to be left behind, some of the players are trying to increase sales by adding local flavour to their positioning, for instance, Whirlpool has a tava plate for Indian recipes, while Samsung and LG allow you to have a more tech-savvy product.

Microwave ovens from the LG stable allow you to download recipes directly from the Net, while Samsung provides you with the facility of feeding any recipe into the device.

However, most of the players agree that it is a category that is yet to take full flight. "Which is exactly the reason why marketers are placing their bets on it. At least there's potential to be tapped," say analysts.

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