August 11, 2013: When the going is getting tough for consumer durable companies in India especially because of the falling rupee and high input costs,
Kerala which is celebrating Onam in September has brought cheers to the companies in particular. Buying by NRI 
Keralites has been more since the people who have been working in Middle East have come for holidays to their home state. The buying has been more because of the Forex advantage as Rupee got battered in July-August against Dollar, Dirham and Pound. Government’s decision to impose 36 per cent import duty on LED and plasma televisions has also upped the demand in these markets.
Sony India’s Sales Head, Sunil Nayyar was quoted as saying “Onam has come as a big surprise, with consumers upgrading their purchases, such as large screen televisions costing even a lakh or premium smartphones.” Sony which has set a target of Rs.170 crore for Onam will clock around Rs. 200-crore sales.
Samsung also has already achieved sales of Rs.250 crores in Kerala and according to Atul Jain, Senior V.P., Samsung India “In Punjab, the demand growth is more driven by desire to upgrade and, therefore, we are seeing a strong momentum in terms of premium products.”
More or less, the same sentiments are being experienced by LG, Panasonic and Videocon. LG has grown by more than 18 per cent in Kerala, Panasonic by 20 per cent in Punjab and LG by 30 per cent when the national average hovered around 7 to 8 per cent. The story is the same in the mobile handset business as well. D Sathish Babu, UniverCell Telecom MD& CEO was quoted as saying Onam sales in Kerala has grown by 40 per cent over last year which is actually double the national sales growth rate.
With Diwali coming up next month and Christmas ending this year festivals, Consumer Durable companies are hopeful of doing a turnaround at the end of the year which otherwise has been dull.
