Sales of home electrical appliances in Thailand are expected to be flat this year as consumer spending power remains weak amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, according to Haier Electrical Appliances (Thailand) Co, the marketer and distributor of Haier products.
Thanes Bin-a-sun, the company's executive vice-president, said Thailand's home electrical appliances market, excluding mobile phones, computers and cameras, is likely to be on par with the 80 billion baht registered in 2020, which plunged from almost 90 billion baht in 2019.
"With reports of rising infections and the Bank of Thailand recently trimming its 2021 GDP growth forecast to 0.7% this year from the 1.8% made last month, the market in Thailand for home appliances in 2021 is expected to see no growth this year," he said.
Mr Thanes said Thailand's home electrical appliance market is expected to recover by the middle of 2023.
"Despite the overall bearish market because of the pandemic, we never stop investment, particularly in marketing activities and new products," Mr Thanes said. The company is growing concerned about the continued weakness of the baht now that 50% of Haier products are imported from overseas, but Mr Thanes insisted that the company will try to maintain prices.
He said the firm has been continuously developing and rolling out new Haier and Candy products to the market this year, focusing on leveraging technology that responds to the needs of consumers. These products must have multiple functions that promote health and enable a new normal lifestyle, as well as come with contactless features.
Haier is also spending 1 billion baht on marketing activities this year to communicate brand messages and create brand awareness through television, online and international media advertising. Campaigns will be held on the Facebook, Instagram and TikTok platforms. Live streaming will focus on connecting online and offline sales opportunities. Pakorn "Boy" Chatborirak continues as brand ambassador to drive brand recognition.
The firm has also opened 20 more Haier shops, bringing the total to 30 this year. It will revamp Haier's shops to be more modern and increase the space for the "IoT Smart Home Zone" for product demos and trials by customers.
Piyasak Sribua, the firm's sales director, said after Candy, a sister brand, received a warm reception from consumers, the firm was spending 50 million baht on campaigns to promote its products and boost its sales to 300 million baht this year.
Haier sales grew 31% from 2019 to 6.2 billion baht in 2020. Of the total, 2.9 billion baht was from air conditioners, 1.17 billion from refrigerators and 866 million from washing machines. The remainder came from others including kitchen appliances and televisions.
Zhang Zhenghui, Haier's president, said the firm expects 2021 sales to grow by 37% to 8.44 billion baht.
