PRIVATELY held Concepcion Midea Inc. (CMI) expects sales to double this year because of strong consumer spending and a booming economy.
CMI, the appliance manufacturer joint venture between the Philippines’s Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC) and China’s Midea Group, is forecasting sales of its air-conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines, rice cookers, refrigerators and a host of home appliances to hit more than P1 billion this year, up from P584 million in 2016, according to CIC chairman and CEO.
“The long-term prospects of the Philippine economy are very attractive. The level of income is growing and our industry is expanding by double digits,” Raul Joseph Concepcion said at a news conference during the launch of Midea’s next-generation air-conditioning variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system called Midea V-6.
Since CMI was formed three years ago, the company’s product line has grown tremendously, complemented by the expansion of its sales network throughout the country, the company said. CMI currently has 150 to 200 stock keeping unit (SKU) products for households and businesses that are available in more than 400 retail outlets nationwide.
“When we formed the partnership with Midea in late-2013, we were traditionally involved in air-conditioning, laundry [and] refrigerators,” Concepcion said. “Now, we have the most comprehensive air-conditioning not only for the consumers but also for small and medium enterprises, as well as large businesses. We also have the very comprehensive line up of laundry, washers, dryers, kitchen and other appliances, such as gas ranges and refrigerators.”
According to Concepcion, the comprehensiveness of CMI’s product lines is in line with CMI’s overall mission to be the largest consumer appliance company in the Philippines, as well as the most trusted building and industrial solutions partner.”
Along with remittances from Filipinos working and living overseas, income from business-process outsourcing (BPO) firms, the government’s plan to build multibillion peso worth of infrastructure facilities through the administration’s “golden age of infrastructure” program will also ensure that the economy will remain robust over the next several years, he added.
“You have people now with money. When people have money, they start spending. Then you have services and construction that are also growing. You still have the BPO, overseas remittances and you have construction. You have a lot of construction going on that’s driving development,” Concepcion said. “When the government puts the infrastructure program, then money will come in. Those are the key drivers of growth with huge potential.”
CMI expects to boost its market share in the competitive appliance industry to reach between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2020, he said.
For his part, Ken Liang, director for Asia Pacific of Midea commercial air-conditioner division, said the Philippine market will help the Chinese company to further boost its sales from the region. Liang said the share of revenues from overseas to Midea’s overall revenue has been rising and reached 50 percent in 2016 versus 43 percent in 2015.
“The Philippines is one of the biggest potential markets not only in Asia but also in the world with GDP growing at 6 percent to 7 percent,” Liang said.