The Hindu Business Line : Colour TVs shine while fridges trail during this Diwali season

IT's been a mixed bag of sales for manufacturers of consumer electronics and durables this Diwali season. According to industry analysts, while colour television sales have peaked this festive season, sales of other segments such as refrigerators have, at the most, been lukewarm.

"The Northern region has been lukewarm for the industry as far as sales of refrigerators are concerned. The direct cool refrigerators segment, which accounts for about 80 per cent of sales, did not pick up as anticipated. Much of the sales growth happened in the medium and high end of the frost-free segment and in washing machines," points out Mr Soumitra K. Ghatak, Executive Vice-President, (marketing, sales and service), Godrej Appliances Ltd.

Interestingly, even within the colour television segment, it was the high-end sets that drove the sales.

"Our 29-inch, flat CTV was the most sought-after model. While sales of our CTVs have seen an increase of over 40 per cent during this season, the industry would have seen a growth of about 10 per cent in the period," Mr C.M. Singh, Head, CTVs, LG Electronics, said.

Samsung India too saw a spurt in the sales of CTVs during the season. "Sales of CTVs grew by about 45 per cent in the festive season, with the growth coming from high-end CTVs. Microwave ovens too have done very well this year," Mr R. Zutshi, Director (Sales), Samsung India, said.

Industry watchers point out that sluggish sales at the entry level segment could be indicative of consumers spending on other categories such as mobile phones.

Also, according to Ms Gita Ram, General Manager, Qualitative Research, Synovate India, the fact that segments such as frost-free refrigerators have scored over direct cool, could primarily mean that the replacement market is growing faster. "This, coupled with the schemes offered by all white goods manufacturers, is an attractive pull. Schemes today are so lucrative that they are able to net many consumers especially looking out for these offers during festive seasons. Given the role of entertainment and the satellite options available to consumers, CTVs are a necessity, closely competing with refrigerators per se for entry into households. Today, a two TV household is a common phenomena among upper middle class homes," she said.

Incidentally, as opposed to earlier years, the bulk of the sales happened only in the week before Diwali this season.

"Sales were skewed towards the last few days, with the market picking up only around November 7. However, the momentum helped to clear up dealer stocks that had accumulated over the previous month. Meanwhile, with the marriage season coming up, the sales momentum should continue over the next couple of months," Mr Singh said.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Crest plans foray into full-fledged animation films

HLL ropes in Elephant Design to give shape to Lipton kiosks

Sonata to vend Serena tools

Pantaloon to launch new range of shirts

TAM launches Radio AdEx

Colour TVs shine while fridges trail during this Diwali season

Cartoon Network okays worldwide telecast of 3D animated show

Mulberry health drink launched