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AC market profits from summer

Sohel Parvez
Sales of air conditioners (ACs) are on the rise, spurred by a buying spree among organisations and a section of middle- and upper middleincome groups amid a continuing heat wave with the mercury hovering a peak, electronics retailers said.
“Now we are getting a comparatively good response from the customers. Usually our sales increase when the mercury shoots up,” said Manzurul Karim, manager (sales and marketing) of Esquire Electronics, which distributes a leading AC brand in Bangladesh, General.
The AC sales witnessed a rise as demand surged in the summer days, said retailers.
They said middle- and upper middle-class customers are showing interest in the cooling devices even amid frequent outages.
Such a customer is Nadif Rahman who lives with his family in an apartment in Gulshan and installed an AC in his room last week although he dates with power cuts on a regular basis.
Manzurul said most of the city apartments have now standby generators, which encourage many families to go for installing ACs. "Generator support gives an impetus to many middle-income people. Also the extent of load shedding remains low at night compared to daytime. Customers who arc buying ACs want a comfortable night repose after passing days at air-conditioned offices," he said.
The electronics retailers said the market for AC is growing at a faster pace as some middle-income people, who earn more than Tk 30,000 a month, are showing interests in the item along with the purchase by public and private sector institutions.
Market insiders said the AC market grew by more than 30 percent in 2008 to around 100,000 units from around 75,000 units a year ago.
Sellers attributed the market growth to a steady decline in the prices of the appliance amid entry of Chinese brands that offer relatively lower prices.
“The market is growing. Middle-class consumers are coming at a higher rate, while we are also witnessing growth in institutional sales," said Manzurul of Esquire, which posted around 40 percent growth in sales in 2008.
Manzurul said the market for the current year would maintain growth despite worries of negative impacts of recession on domestic economy.
"If sales don't rise, I expect it won't go below 100.000 units this year,” he said.
Hasan Iqbal, deputy general manager in charge of sales of Butterfly Marketing Ltd, which sells LG and Butterfly brands, also expected a good year.
"The market for AC will continue to grow as the number of apartments is increasing along with a rise in temperature,” said the official.
Jafrul Alam Khan, national sales manager of lYanscom Electronics, which retails TYanstec and Whirlpool brand ACs, also said the market would remain upbeat in the current summer.
But he said institutional sales might slowdown on a cautious stand by corporate houses a mid recession.
sohel@thedailystar.net