The majap industry’s September song was music to manufacturers’ ears.
That’s because factory shipments of white-goods rose a respectable 5.9 percent year-over-year to 6.8 million units for the month, and contributing to a year-to-date increase of 7.4 percent.
According to the latest vendor data compiled by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), room air conditioners led the charge, as the Indian summer fueled a 638.8 percent increase in wholesale volume, albeit to only 60,000 units.
Cooking was also on fire, up a solid 8.4 percent for the month, led by electric and microwave ovens. Their respective unit increases, of 14.4 percent and 12.8 percent, offset a steep decline in gas oven shipments (down 36.7 percent) and a 9.1 percent falloff in gas cooktops.
Food preservation also enjoyed a solid month, with freezer shipments up 24.1 percent, to some 225,500 units, led by chest-style configurations, and full-size refrigerators enjoying a 5.3 percent hike, to 1.1 million pieces.
Coming in a close third was laundry, up 7.3 percent in September. Clothes washers cleaned up, with shipments ahead 10.6 percent year over year, while dryers, pulled down by a 3 percent dip in gas models, lagged with 3 percent growth.
Elsewhere, the kitchen clean-up category was mixed. While the core dishwasher business rose 5 percent for the month — constrained by a 11.5 percent fall in portable model shipments — the gains were offset by a flat month for disposers and a 5.1 percent downturn for compactors.
Providing a snapshot of the month is the trade association’s AHAM 6 classification, which encompasses the core washer, dryer, dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer, range and oven categories. That amalgam rose 6.4 percent in September, and is up 5.7 percent for the year. But expect that to change as retailers continue to load up for Black Friday weekend.
