Nov. Majap Shipments Fall 9%

By Alan Wolf On Jan 19 2009 - 8:00am

Factory shipments of major appliances continued their two-year-long downtrend in November.

According to the latest monthly data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), vendors shipped 4.5 million units that month, representing an 8.8 percent decline from the year-ago period.

The strongest performer was home laundry, down 2.5 percent to 1.1 million units as washer shipments declined 2.7 percent and dryer shipments slipped 2.3 percent.

The weakest performer was dehumidifiers, with unit shipments falling nearly 67 percent in November. Its fellow home-comfort category, room air conditioning, didn't fare much better: Some 9,400 units were returned to vendors that month, contributing to an 81 percent decline for the overall home-comfort sector.

The next biggest monthly drop was seen in portable dishwashers, which fell 32.4 percent to about 5,800 units shipped. Built-in dishwashers fared better, down 13.6 percent to 444,800 units, while shipments of compactors and disposers declined 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The overall dishwasher category declined nearly 14 percent.

Also taking it on the chin in November were gas-fueled surface cooking units, or cooktops. The sub-sector sank by 23.4 percent that month, to just more than 28,000 units shipped, while shipments of its electric counterpart dipped only 9 percent to 35,800 units. Elsewhere within the overall cooking category, gas ranges and ovens declined 11.7 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively, while electric ranges and ovens cooled by 10.8 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Microwave ovens fared best, rising 1 percent to 1.1 million units, while the total cooking category declined 11.1 percent to 432,000 units.

Elsewhere, food preservation was a tale of two cities, with the core refrigeration category down 17.6 percent to 587,700 units, while wholesale sales of freezers soared more than 24 percent to 190,900 units as consumers sought savings in bulk food buys and required stand-alone units for storage.

Shipments for the AHAM 6, a core composite category comprised of washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ranges and ovens, fell 8.3 percent to 2.9 million units.

Total year-to-date shipments of all major appliances were similarly down 8.7 percent to 62.8 million units.