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Split flavour of the season

By Rajesh Kumar, Section Business
Posted on Fri Jun 17, 2005 at 03:22:38 AM EST

There's no beating the heat and no sign of the monsoon. If chilling is the need of the hour, it's the air-conditioner (AC) that's the coolest tool.

After crossing the initial value-added tax muddle, AC sales this year have already overtaken that of last year for most makes. "We've seen an overall growth of 85 per cent," says Ruchika Batra, general manager (corporate communications), Samsung.

"Summer set in early and we saw good sales in February and March," says a spokesperson for Hitachi Home & Life Solution. Delayed rains ensured that the rush continued in April and May.

The growth of split ACs, particularly, has been phenomenal. "The segment grew by 100 per cent from last year, compared with 40-45 per cent in the window segment," says Jiten Chawla of Cams Corner, which deals in LG.

For Samsung, the contribution of the split segment to its overall sales rose from one per cent last year to 26 per cent this summer, while Hitachi saw its split section grow by around 135 per cent.

Narrowing of the price gap, space crunch in modern apartments and better financing options are some of the reasons for the splits doing better. "The difference between a high-end window AC and a basic split has come down to around Rs 5,000," offers the Hitachi spokesperson.

"Apartment bedrooms often don't have options for window ACs. Split also helps if the bed is a distance away from the AC window," says Chawla.

Tie-ups with credit card firms and interest-free instalments by the makers take care of the money worry.

As for frills, pollution control and power-saving are the two main pulls. "With the high pollution level in the city, more and more people are giving top priority to health, particularly those with asthma or breathing problems," Chawla adds.

The only loser is the rented AC market. "Business is down to 10 per cent of what it used to be," rues Rathin Pal of Pal Airconditioning. "We charge Rs 5,000 as rent for a year but people can now pay less annually and own an AC," he explains.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050617/asp/calcutta/story_4871966.asp

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