Consumer Electronics - High Growth

The period January to November 2009 has seen a robust growth in consumer electronics in India as per data released by ORG-GFK. This was particularly so in the case of high value products.
The figures for the period Jan to Nov09 are

LCD TVs sales grew 93% to 10 Lac Units
Washing Machines sales grew 14% to 24 lac units
Refrigerators sales grew 16.5% to 50 Lac units.

70% sales of consumer electronics came from large cities.
Leading players have shown handsome growth - Samsung at 25% and LG at 30%.

Withing refrigerators, the Direct Cool Refrigerators showed a whopping growth of 21% and sales to 36 Lac units . The premium frost free refrigerators however grew 7.4% to 14.5 lac units.
On an overall basis however the growth in Televisions was only 5% to 1.17 crore units

Carrefour set to enter India

Carrefour is on the verge of finalizing a deal with Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon Retail to enter the Indian Market. Carrefour is Europe's largest retailer and has been scouting around in India looking for a suitable partner for the last 6 years. With Walmart and Tesco already having made a foray into the $350 billion Indian retail market, it was important for Carrefour to gain presence in India.

The 87 Billion Euro retailer plans to set up franchisee stores which will be a part of Future Value Retail, a 100% unit of Pantaloon Retail.

The Carrefour franchisee stores will be targeting the higher income segment of customers and will be pitted against retailers like Hypercity which has 4 stores and operates in 3 cities including Mumbai.

The deal is expected to be signed in March signalling a new all round thrust on retail activity in India.