With a nod to the strong shipment performance turned in by major appliance manufacturers through the first five months of this year, AHAM has issued an upwardly revised forecast for 1999 results, along with an initial prediction for 2000, indicating a leveling off from four consecutive years of record-setting totals.
AHAM now expects shipments for this year to be up a conservative 4.6% from 1998, upgrading the outlook issued at the end of last year for a 0.3% decline. It sees core products up 5% to 36.7 million units and non-core shipments up 4.7% to 22.7 million. Those forecasts appear to be based on an expectation of a significant growth slowdown in the second half.
For 2000 the total shipment prediction is for a scant 0.2% decline, with core products off 0.6% to 58.9 million units and non-core down 1.1% to 22.4 million.
