AC demand more than double now

As the sweltering heatwave sweeping across the nation has disrupted the public life of people, most are searching for some respite indoors. 

However, temperatures inside homes are not favourable as well given the intense heat throughout the day. The urge to bring down the heat indoors has prompted a surge in the demand for air conditioners (ACs) in the capital's showrooms.

According to importers, manufacturers, and several sales centres in Dhaka, the demand for ACs has increased significantly in the last few days, with sales more than doubling compared to normal times.

Sellers attribute the spike to people seeking relief from the scorching temperatures by purchasing ACs for their homes, particularly favouring one tonne and 1.5 tonnes inverter models.

Aminul Islam, a private company employee, who was shopping for an AC at Moghbazar Walton Plaza, told TBS that he came to buy a non-inverter one tonne AC, keeping in mind the well-being of his 5-year-old child at home.

Sondip Biswas, deputy chief business officer of Walton Air Conditioner, said that their ACs witnessed a sharp increase in demand nationwide as people are desperately seeking respite from the scorching heat.

He said, "The company has witnessed huge sales growth this month, due to the good quality, advanced features and huge energy efficient inverter technology of Walton AC.

"Walton ACs have the highest number of features and advanced technology among all the AC brands operating in Bangladesh."

Various companies including Walton, Singer, Minister, Electromart, Transcom, Square Bangladesh, Butterfly, Rangs, Electronics, Vision, and LG are producing and marketing ACs in the country. Officials from these companies said that sales of ACs significantly increased after Eid, particularly in the past week.

Talking to branch employees of the companies, this reporter found that the price of each AC has increased by Tk500 to Tk1,500 this season depending on the brand, however, major companies claim they have not raised prices recently.

Electro Mart, the marketer for Gree brand of AC in Bangladesh, said that the sales of their ACs are several times higher than normal times, even higher than last April. However, they also said that they have not increased their prices.

Nurul Afsar, deputy managing director at Electro Mart, said, "The demand for Gree AC remains throughout the year, but a huge demand has been created in the last one week. Sales in Dhaka and Chattogram have more than doubled."

According to the companies, the price of AC mainly increased when the dollar crisis started. At this time, the price of each AC increased by Tk10,000 to Tk15,000.

The Electro Mart DMD further said, "No brand has increased the price of AC in the last one or two months. But we have complaints that dealers are charging high prices due to the high demand in the market."

Kamruzzaman Kamal, director of marketing at PRAN-RFL Group, also said that the price of their Vision AC has not increased this season.

"Rather, various opportunities including discounts and moneyback guarantees are being given to buyers," he said, adding that there is more than 100% growth in April compared to the previous month.

With annual sales ranging from five and a half lakh to six lakh units, ACs ranging from one to two tonnes in capacity remain popular for home use. However, there is a growing trend towards one-and-a-half-tonne power-saving technology inverter ACs.