From smartphones to TVs, premium range electronics sell more in 2022

Upper middle class and rich buying premium electronic products despite a hike in prices: Report

Sales of premium smartphones, TV, water purifiers and refrigerators did nine times better in value in 2022, reported the Economic Times (ET) citing data from consumer electronics industry.

The upper middle class and the rich continued buying premium electronic products despite a hike in prices. Lower-income consumers largely skipped such products due to inflationary pressures, ET quoted industry executives as saying.

Data from GFK, a market research company, show that smartphone sales increased 35 per cent by value, the growth in sales was 94 per cent for handsets priced above Rs 30,000. 

The sale of premium TV models (ultra-HD with screen size of 55-inch and above) went up 95 per cent in value, while the growth for overall television category was 11 per cent.

Large appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines saw a similar trend where the growth in the premium range was 45 per cent by value in 2022, against 29 per cent for the segment. The premium range includes 350-litre-plus refrigerators, 1.5-tonne 5-star split ACs, 7.5-kg-plus front-load washing machines, and combination microwave ovens.

Sales of water purifiers, electric water heaters, and air coolers jumped 37 per cent, but for the premium range of the same products, the growth was 54 per cent.

The premium segment is driving growth as there is an increased demand for products with bigger capacity, innovative technology and that are future-ready, said Deepak Bansal, vice-president at LG India, the country’s largest appliance manufacturer, the report added.

Anant Jain, head of market intelligence at GfK was quoted as saying by the report that Indian consumers were driven by the value-led approach whereby promotions and premium features would continue to influence sales. The average selling price for the premium segment in some of the categories, such as large-screen TVs, has also become more attractive and affordable.