Comments
Afer two washed out summer seasons due to the pandemic, the air-conditioner segment garnered a strong double-digit growth this year despite price hikes. As per the latest estimates by market intelligence firm GfK, the overall air-conditioner segment clocked 30 per cent volume growth and 35 per cent value growth in January–April, 2022, as compared with the corresponding period last year.
The split-inverter-AC segment garnered higher growth due to consumers increasingly shifting towards more energy efficient products. As per GfK estimates, the split-inverter-AC segment garnered a volume growth of 35 per cent and value growth of 39 per cent.
AC makers have been reporting strong pent-up demand after two washed out summer seasons due to the pandemic. In addition, earlier onset of summer too helped the AC segment garner grow despite price hikes taken by durable goods companies to tackle inflationary pressures.
Anant Jain, Head of Market Insights–India, GfK said, “According to GfK Market Intelligence Offline Retail Point-of-Sales data, growth in terms of sales in the AC category was 30 per cent, while growth in the split- inverter-AC was 35 per cent between January and April as compared with the same period last year. There has been an increase in prices in the category. For instance: three-star rated aplit inverter AC (1.5 tonne) witnessed a price hike of 5 per cent in April 2022 over the same period last year.”
The split-inverter-AC segment now accounts for nearly 74 per cent in terms of volume contribution to the total AC segment in the country. Some leading players in the market have been stepping up focus on the split-inverter-AC segment in the country over the years. In an earlier interaction with BusinessLine, Manish Sharma, CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia, had said that consumers, during this summer, were choosing higher star-rated products and 80-90 per cent of the company’s sales now come from inverter-AC segment.
Refrigerator sales volume up 9 per cent
Meanwhile, the overall refrigerator category garnered a volume growth of 9 per cent between January and April 2022, as compared with the same period last year. Value growth of the overall refrigerator category was pegged at about 15 per cent during this period, as per GfK estimates.
Frost-free refrigerators sized 351 litres and above registered higher volume growth of 18 per cent and value growth of 20 per cent between January to April this year as compared with April 2021 figures. The overall contribution of premium refrigerators is now pegged at 6 per cent during this period.
“Our studies have indicated that Indian urban consumers are increasingly choosing to invest in higher-quality premium products. The volume growth seen in split inverter ACs and higher capacity refrigerators validates the steady premiumisation trend visible across consumer durables,” added Jain
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.