Samsung to exit Indian window ACs market

With window air-conditioner (AC) sales shrinking and seeing a de-growth in 2011, Samsung Electronics India has decided to de-list the category from its bouquet of offerings from this year, according to vice-president (home appliances) Mahesh Krishnan.

The share of split AC sales in the total off-take of ACs in the country rose from 75 per cent in 2010 to 77 per cent in 2011, while the window version registered a de-growth of 26 per cent. The Indian AC market, which stood at 3 million units in 2011, is expected to touch 3.2 million units this calendar.

“Consumers are now moving more towards energy-efficient, aesthetically-appealing ACs having low noise levels. We believe it is a matter of time before window ACs make a total exit from the Indian market,” he told mediapersons here on Monday.

In 2011, split ACs accounted for 85 per cent of Samsung India’s total AC sales. The company is expecting this to be 100 per cent this year. While window AC sales were just two per cent in south last year, this category enjoys a better share in the northern markets of India, he added.

Announcing the nation-wide launch of a new range of 39 split AC models from here, Krishnan said the southern market accounted for 32 per cent of Samsung’s total AC sales in the country last year, of which the Hyderabad market had a lion’s share of 18.7 per cent.

Stating that Samsung's 2012 range of ACs were all star rated, complying with the new Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) standards, he said star ratings had become one of the key purchase triggers.

“While two-three star rated ACs contributed 49 per cent to our sales in 2010 and 61 per cent in 2011, five star rated ACs accounted for 22 per cent in 2011, as against 19 per cent in the previous year. We expect five star rated ACs to contribute 25 per cent this year,” Krishnan said, adding that the company was expecting to sell 500,000 split ACs in 2012, as against 350,000 units last year.