Almost at all parts of India, this year we have been observing above normal temperature. Fortunately, it was predicted by our India Meteorological Department (IMD) well in advance. Quite naturally the demand for air conditioners has increased in the domestic market.
According to sources, LG Electronics is expecting a growth of 30% in sale of ACs this summer. Panasonic too has seen around 35% growth in sales of ACs and refrigerators in the last fiscal year. Although March ‘23 was so so for Hitachi Air Conditioning India, they had done well in February ‘23 and expecting better demand in the coming months. Most other players too have good time now.
Potential of the Indian air conditioning market
According to the recent report from Research and Markets, titled, “India Air Conditioner Market, Size, Forecast 2023-2028, Industry Trends, Growth, Impact of Inflation, Opportunity Company Analysis,” the India Air Conditioner Market is expected to reach US$ 399.88 Billion by 2028 growing with a CAGR of 7.76% from 2022 to 2028.
The report also states that – as India’s population continues to grow and its economy undergoes a transformation, the air conditioning industry has emerged as one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. The changing lifestyles of Indian consumers, including the rise of nuclear families, single-person households, and job migration, have created a growing need for accessible and convenient products that reduce the time and effort spent on everyday chores. Increased affordability, a focus on energy efficiency, digital penetration, and rising aspirations are driving the industry’s growth.
India’s regulatory and business environment have undergone significant changes, including the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and upcoming policies such as the National Policy for Electronics (NPE), which could bring about further policy changes for the industry. The burgeoning middle class in urban areas and aspirational demand from rural India, coupled with increasing electrification of rural areas and the popularity of online sales, are likely to fuel demand and drive exponential growth.
So, the market is now full of opportunities, but there is fierce competition too. As most of the consumers are tech-savvy these days, and many other factors are influencing them, the demand for new technologies is also growing parallelly beside the basic need for seamless cooling.
A few appreciable features in latest AC models
There are many new technologies that AC manufacturers are offering these days, however, in the short span of this article, everything cannot be covered. Thus, in the next section I’ll focus on a few nice technologies that are truly helpful for the users.
LG Electronics
The company has recently launched its new 2023 range of DUALCOOL Inverter air conditioners under its AI+, health and hygiene portfolio. Under the latest range, LG is introducing air conditioners that come equipped with features such as AI +, Plasmaster Ionizer++, Hot & cold, and LG ThinQ (WIFI AC’s) that can be operated with voice command, thus making them touch free. The 2023 range also comes with a new BEE star rating for improved energy efficiency. Some of their new features are:
AI+ Dual Inverter- AI+, with its revolutionary technology and robust sensing mechanism, understands the user’s environment condition, user’s lifestyle trait and usages pattern to adjust the cooling system accordingly. Thus, it provides the user optimum comfort and convenience.
AI Convertible 6-in-1 – By taking advantage of LG DUALCOOL AC with Super Convertible 6-in-1 Cooling Control, the user can not only save a lot of energy by stepping down the cooling capacity from 100% to 80%, 60% or 40%, but even increase the cooling capacity to 110% when faster cooling becomes most important and with AI/AI+ mode the user can let AC automatically govern various parameters and ensure perfect cooling.
Plasmaster Ionizer++ – This is a revolutionary technology that removes 99.9% of adhering bacteria and deodorizes the indoor space, thus keeping the user’s home free from bacteria, germs and bad odour.
HD Filter with Anti-Virus Protection – protection layer fitted HD Filter- The filter mesh is coated with Cationic Silver Ions (AgNPs) that deactivates more than 99% virus and bacteria in contact. To be precise, it demobilizes up to 99.76% virus and up to 99.99% bacteria cleansing.
UV Nano – UV Rays emitted by LEDs beneath the fan/ blower sterilizes the air from microorganisms by rupturing their DNA and produces clean air, also making it impossible to generate and multiply.
100% Copper with Ocean Black Protection – Special Ocean Black Protection applied to both indoor & outdoor unit provide exceptional durability for the air conditioner in typical Indian regions affected from sand, salt, industrial smoke
& pollutants.
LG ThinQ – LG Smart ThinQ is a future-ready open platform with the widest assortment of Wi-Fi enabled application. Also, one can easily monitor and control their ACs at any time and from anywhere with LG’s exclusive home appliance control app on the smartphone.
Hitachi
The company has also lined up a number of ACs with some new features that help the user to optimise his/her comfort level. Some of them are:
Ambience light – A user can now enjoy the comfort of an environment where the temperature is just perfect. The blue colour display shows the coldness of the environment. When the AC temperature is between 16 ~ 23 °C, the ambience light shows blue colour signifying a cool and peaceful environment. The green colour display signifies relaxed surroundings. When the AC temperature is between 24 ~ 27 °C, the ambience light shows green colour representing that the surrounding is neither too hot, nor too cold, just seamlessly comfortable. The red colour denotes the warmth of the environment. When the AC temperature is between 27 ~ 30 °C, the ambience light becomes red representing a warm and cosy surrounding.
airCloud App – This allows the user to remotely monitor and control his/her system from a single app through his/her smartphone, digital device, or voice assistant on his/her mobile for conveniently managing temperature.
FrostWash – This technology helps the AC clean itself from dust and moulds. The ice Clean feature enables collecting the moisture in the room to form dew on the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is then frozen to -150C. The dust trapped inside frost is easily peeled off as frozen water expands in volume. Then the frozen water containing dust particles is melted and drained out. The fans then dry out the exchanger completing the cleaning process.
Xpandable+ – The AC automatically senses adverse temperature conditions and expands its cooling capacity by cutting down the humidity level inside the room. It can expand its cooling capacity by increasing the compressor’s Rotation Per Minute (RPM) from the standard RPM.
Carrier Midea
In its latest models, the company is offering some special (optional) features like:
Refrigerant Leakage Detection – when refrigerant leakage is detected, the indoor unit will display EC code or flash LEDs (model dependent).
Louver Angle Memory Function – within the scope of safety angle, the horizontal louver angle is memorised and will return to the position last selected by user. If it exceeds, it will memorise the boundary of safety angle.
They also have the latest features (optional) like: SELF CLEAN function, CLEAN AIR function, Anti-mildew function and Anto-restart function and WIFI Control Function.
Final words
Today’s customer-driven Indian AC market is forcing manufacturers to innovate, and provide more user-friendly features. Since the mercury is expected to rise further in the coming days, sale of ACs will definitely rise, however, customers will also look for better service.
Although price competitiveness is one of the factors influencing the buying decision, in the post corona scenario, assurance of virus protection will be a good determining factor.
By P. K. Chatterjee (PK)
