Leading appliance and consumer electronics manufacturers are set to increase prices of air conditioners, LED TVs, washing machines, and other products by 5 to 8 per cent from October 1, citing rising input costs for metals like copper and steel, crude derivatives, and currency exchange volatility due to the West Asia crisis.
Sales of apparel were a mixed bag this festive season while those of consumer durables saw an uptick with mobiles, laptops, and air conditioners being in demand. In apparel, Tier-2 and -3 markets did better for some brands, because these have been witnessing an uptick for the past 18-20 months compared to metros. "The past two weeks have been good, and we saw a 13 per cent increase in value sales, and volume sales have also been similar," Manish Kapoor, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Pepe Jeans
In 2020 a round of hikes in customs duty on components like compressors, motors and printed circuit boards aggravated the situation, coronavirus crisis is now leaving manufacturers with no option but to hike prices despite fall in sales.
While Hindware is expecting sale of its air purifiers to double this year, brands like Xiaomi, Blue Star and Daikin, too, are expecting significant rise in sales.
