Festival sales increase due to the demand for expensive appliances

Samsung's senior vice president Mohandeep Singh is well aware of how crowded the customers are on the festival and sleepless nights. However, this time they are getting unusual demand for expensive smartphones. Despite the economic downturn, the company's premium handsets have seen huge sales in October.

According to Singh, with the increase in the share of expensive smartphones, Samsung is not only expecting a 40 percent increase in sales this season but its average selling price is also increasing faster than before. He said, "The common and middle segments are growing at a normal pace, while our expensive phone segment is growing at a rapid pace."

Other business executives in the electronics industry are also experiencing this trend. Manish Sharma, president and chief executive officer of Panasonic India and South-East Asia, said the brand has recorded 30 percent growth in festival sales so far. It has also been helped by good data on sustainable consumer products. He said, “Demand for LED TVs has outpaced supply. Earlier small-scale appliances such as grooming products, audio accessories were preferred in online purchases, but this year we have seen significant growth in demand for larger appliances like fridges and washing machines.

Consumer electronics giant Sony India has the same trend. The company is experiencing an unusual demand for TVs of 55 inches and above. Sony India managing director Sunil Nayyar said, “We have seen a change in the buying trend of the customers. They are now preferring to buy larger sizes, especially 55 inch or larger televisions due to the living environment at home. They hope that this trend will continue at least till Diwali. Raju Pullan, senior vice president (consumer electronics business), Samsung India, believes that customers are beginning to prefer premium products. Like Sony, Samsung has also seen better growth in sales of 55-inch or larger TVs, larger refrigerators, fully automatic washing machines, and microwave ovens. According to Pullan, convenience has played an important role in this increase. "We started our festive publicity at the beginning of October, since then our premium segment has increased by 50 percent," he said.

Whirlpool India MD Wushal Bhola said consumers are spending more time at home. So they are willing to spend more on appliances that make their lives easier. He said, "Durable consumer goods have moved from passive to active roles, which are helpful in daily household chores." Analysts believe that consumers who are not moving out of the home are increasing sales of appliances and audio products. The increasing trend of online studies and remote meeting work also increased sales of good quality tablets and notebooks

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Apple's iPhone 12 pre-order trend is also strong. Apple is the largest company in the expensive smartphone and notebook market. It has received around 25 percent more pre-orders for the iPhone 12 range. Its price is at least 15 percent higher than the previous year. It has received over one lakh pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. The company recorded the highest sales in India in the September quarter thanks to the MacBook and a record eight million iPhones.

LG's festive sales are also good. Sales of the company have so far increased by 31 percent. Vijay Babu, vice-president (home appliances), LG Electronics India, said, “We are seeing good demand for replacement markets and premium products especially premium refrigerators (over 300 liters) and expensive washing machines. Apart from this, we have also recorded an increase in sales of microwave ovens and dishwashers. Industry leaders are hoping that the unusual festival demand for premium products will turn into an improvement that is currently underway.