Air Conditioners sales hit 5-year high

India: sales of air conditioners rose all-time high in 5 years in the month of March, Earlier manufacturers also gave the signal about early arrival of summers, which also forced consumers to wait for the summers to arrive, and then finally going for the air conditioners. Companies such as Voltas, Godrej, LG and Videocon, experienced high demand for their air conditioners in the month of April. Air conditioner sales rose by 59% in March, with almost all the top brands which experienced double digit increase in their sales. Voltas was among the top, experienced 70% growth in its sales of air conditioners, LG recorded a 55 % increase in sales. Sales of air conditioners in rural areas grew up by 100%, especially in the areas like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Company’s stock of air conditioners was totally sold out, some also faced the problems of shortage of stocks, as the manufacturers were not able to forecast increase in demand properly. The gaps were filled, either by increasing production or working multiple shifts.

According to Techsci Research “India Air Conditioners Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the Indian air conditioners market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 10% during 2015-20. Accounting for a lion’s share of the air conditioners market, split air conditioners segment was the highest revenue generator, followed by VRFs and window air conditioners in 2014. The market share of window air conditioners has been declining over the last few years on account of decreasing price gap compared to split ACs, due to which many leading companies such as Samsung and LG have exited from the windows air conditioning segment while other major companies like Voltas, Daikin, Blue Star, etc., have lowered the production of window air conditioners in the country. Northern India generates the highest revenue in the country’s air conditioners market, followed by Southern and Western regions.

According to TechSci Research, the companies should be ready with its stocks of air conditioners, especially during this peak period, i.e. March-June, as 60-70% of company’s annual sales generated in this period only. Moreover, the companies are focusing on high inverted based air conditioners, as the demand for these air conditioners are increasing day by day, because it helps in saving power consumption, so, ultimately in saving in electricity bills. Hence, the manufacturers should be ready with its stock, but with the constant prices, if there will any movement in the prices of air conditioners, it will drastically affect the demand, as the consumers here in India are also price sensitive.