Festive season push for consumer durables

The consumer durables industry is expecting a sales bonanza of more than Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) this festive season. During October and November, the industry hopes to clock sales of Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion), 30 per cent more than last year's Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion). This, despite the dampening effect of a poor monsoon on the rural economy.

"We have had a very promising run during Onam in Kerala, and sales leading up to Durga Puja in West Bengal have been very good.

Also, consumer sentiment is very high in both urban and rural markets at the moment, making conditions very favourable for growth in excess of 25 per cent," said Ravinder Zutshi, vice-president (sales), Samsung India.

The company is hoping to have sales in excess of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) during October and November this year as against Rs 375 crore (Rs 3.75 billion) in to 2003.

LG Electronics India, which is the leader in the colour television market, too expects a growth of 30 per cent despite no major price reductions during the season on account of rising input costs.

"As the monsoon has not fared as bad as earlier thought, buying sentiment across the country is fairly positive," said CM Singh, product head, LG India.

Mirc Electronics, the maker of the Onida brand of CTVs, has a more ambitious target. It is looking to nearly double its CTV sales to 375,000 units at the end of this season from 200,000 units last year.

"We now have a multi-brand strategy with Onida and Igo to cater to different price segments of the market, and we are expecting our all new 'Devil is Back' branding exercise to fuel sales," said V Chandramauli, vice-president (sales and marketing), Mirc Electronics.

With the introduction of new product ranges like DVD players, Mirc is expecting revenues of Rs 480 crore (Rs 4.8 billion) this season.

According to Chandramauli, the durables market has shown healthy growth this year and there is still enough affordability despite prices remaining at last year's levels or going up marginally.

"Prices are still at record low levels if you look at a 10-year time period. This season you can get a flat 21-inch TV for as little as Rs 10,000," he added.

Philips India is banking on its wide range of low-priced products to make a dent in the market during the season.

With more than a 50 per cent rise in sales during Onam this year, the company was on track to achieve its sales target of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) for the festive season, marking a 35 per cent growth over 2003, Suresh Sukumaran, senior general manager, Philips India, said.