Consumer sophistication has become one of the biggest contributors to the rising sales for the Major Domestic Appliances Market in the Asia Pacific Region according to GfK.
From February 2016 to January 2017, a total of USD11.13 billion worth of Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, and Refrigerators were sold in 12 key markets in the region. This is equivalent to a 5% growth when compared to the same period in 2015.
Among the countries in the APAC region, three countries namely the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan exhibited the highest growth in sales of 14%, 18%, and 6% respectively across all three major domestic appliances categories.
Air Conditioners saw the fastest growth and best performance in the segment with a 9 percent surge in sales, valued at USD3.6 billion. This is thanks to increased consumer spending in Vietnam and Thailand due to the long period of hot weather between April and June 2016.
There’s also a notable shift in the type of Air Conditioners that consumers buy. More people are now going for energy-efficient inverter type models that utilizes R32 gas – the newest type of coolant used in Air Conditioners. Inverter models account for more than 28% of total units sold, which equates to 46 percent value in the region. The R22 – an older and less environment-friendly coolant is gradually being phased out, with sales only accounting for 11% of the market.
Smart Air Conditioners are also seeing an increase in sales amounting to USD42 million in 2016, with Taiwan being the leader as far as market share in Asia is concerned, followed by Australia, Thailand, and Vietnam which have all demonstrated sizeable growth.
In a separate study, consumers across the APAC region have varied aspirations for their homes, with overall size and layout, as well as storage space being the two leading areas for improvement. Of the 6,000 respondents across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, it was discovered that respondents in China prefer to acquire better devices in their homes with 40% choosing household appliances and 34% choosing entertainment equipment. In Hong Kong, 28% of respondents expressed their desire to change or improve their household appliances.
GfK tracks products and provides insights based on actual sales data from both retailer and reseller, which in turn helps brands in aligning product availability with the expected market demand, as well as optimizing product assortment, distribution and pricing strategies.
Photo: Samsung
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
