Micromax enters the air-conditioner business and expects 20 pc increase in revenues by late 2017

After televisions, tech firm Micromax is now foraying into the air-conditioner category and expects the consumer durables vertical to contribute 20 percent to its revenues by December 2017. The city-based firm, which gets a lion’s share of its revenues from handsets, has launched four models of split and window ACs, priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000.  ”We had launched LED TVs two and a half years back and today are among the top 5 brands with about 10 percent market share… ACs is among the fastest growing categories in the segment,” Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal told PTI.

Micromax wants to be an all-round player in the consumer electronics space, he added. ”We are launching 4 SKUs in windows (one) and split (three) ACs with 1.5 and 2 ton capacity. These will be manufactured at our facility in Uttarakhand,” he said. Micromax expects about 15 percent of its revenues to come from LED TVs and 5 percent from ACs by December 2017.

The company closed FY16 with revenues close to $2 billion. It expects to clock an overall growth of about 30 percent this year. ”This year, we expect to make about 50,000 units and next year, ramp it up to 2 lakh units… South (32 percent) and west India (28 percent) are major markets for ACs, followed by North India (28 percent) and East India (12 percent),” he said.

He added the company will use its existing distribution channels, including online sales. Online accounts for about 25 percent of the sales of its TVs and it expects a similar traction for the ACs, he said.

IMPORT: BGRindia