Wed, Jul 03, 2002 page10

• AC demand heats up for local dealers

  MEAN SEASON Following the dragon boat races, the temperature continued to skyrocket, which is a boon for those in the business of selling air conditioners

  • By Annabel Lue / STAFF REPORTER
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  With Taiwan seeing record high temperatures already this year, air conditioner makers and sellers are reporting record sales, market professionals said yesterday.

  "Between January and June we've shipped out about 15,000 units -- triple the same period last year," said Jacqueline Lee (李津玲), a senior marketing official at B&Q International Co (特力屋).

  

  An employee at home appliance retailer Daichi shows the outlet's air-conditioning units to a customer in Taipei yesterday. High summer temperatures are dramatically boosting demand for AC units in Taiwan.

  PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  According to Central Weather Bureau, the average temperature in northern Taiwan between June 20th and 30th was 30?C, while the average temperature in June last year was about 28?C.

  "Right after the June 15 dragon boat festival, temperatures suddenly picked up and so did air conditioner sales," said Lee Wen-Tsung (李文聰), a store manager at home appliance retailer Tsann Kuen Corp (燦坤).

  Scorching days and steamy nights have spurred consumers to part with their hard-earned cash to stay cool.

  "The weather is too hot. I can't sleep well at night without air conditioning," said Lisa Chung (莊麗雲), 29, a travel agent checking out appliances at Tsann Kuen.

  Another shopper said buying an air conditioner was an investment in his children's future.

  "My kids keep complaining its hard to concentrate on their studies when its so hot, therefore, for their own good, I decided to installed an air conditioner in their room," said Lin Chiang-sheng (林江聲), 45, father of two junior high school students, checking out air conditioners at the same store.

  While Taiwan has many homegrown brands, imported brand name products were Lin's first choice.

  hot on hitachi

  "I like Hitachi over other manu-facturers since they're pretty well-known and their after-sales service is good too," he said.

  Muggy weather triggered a sell out of Hitachi air conditioners over the weekend at Tsann Kuen, Lee said, with local brands Sampo (聲寶) and Teco (東元) also selling well.

  Basically you get what you pay for. A window-mounted Sampo unit powerful enough to cool a 4 ping room will run about NT$13,000, and a two-stage Teco unit for an 8 ping room costs nearly NT$37,000.

  Prices of brand-name conditioners are at least 20 percent higher than mid-level products, B&Q's Lee said.

  For the consumer who is on a budget, there are bargains out there.

  For instance, one of B&Q's best-selling models -- locally made Chun-shin air conditioners (中興) are a thin NT$6,999 each for the window-mounted, 4-ping unit, and a two-stage Teco 7-ping unit is NT$10,999. With big sales also come freebies that are designed to close the deal.

  "This year [South Korea-based] LG Electronics is throwing in a free DVD player with the purchase of an NT$22,000 air conditioner," Tsann Kuen's Lee said.

  Chun-Shih is tossing in a free fan with the purchase of an NT$14,000 air conditioner.

  With Taiwan's weather bureau predicting that temperatures will stay high through August, appliance retailers appear to be set to profit throughout the summer.

  "The hotter the weather is, the more products we can sell. Since this year's sales are going strong, we may decide not to run a year closeout sale in September," B&Q's Lee said.
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