Business
Phuket Business: Small appliances see big growth in SE Asia

PHUKET: The Small Domestic Appliances (SDA) markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand grew by nearly 6% in value over a recent 12-month period, when compared to the same period the previous year.
SDA sales in the five markets, tracked from February 2012 to March 2013, had a combined value of more than US$804 million.
The survey by GfK, one of the world’s largest research companies, compared sales figures for SDA units including food preparation appliances, irons, rice cookers and vacuum cleaners.
According to GfK retail audit findings, the growth in overall value was a result of consumers buying nearly 1.6 million more SDAs compared to the previous year.
All five markets registered incremental value growth in the range of 1 to 12%, with Thailand exhibiting the strongest jump, followed by Indonesia at 8%.
According to the study, Thailand is also the country with the highest consumption level as consumers spent more than $235mn on over 9mn units of these appliances, contributing to nearly a third (30%) in value and volume of the combined SDA market in the region.
“The increasing affluence of households, on top of the rising need for convenience, has brought about an upgrading phenomenon which we are witnessing especially in developing countries,” noted Jasmine Lim, Account Director for Home & Lifestyle in GfK Asia.
“In recent times, our findings have shown escalating sales of higher-end appliances – an indication that consumers have greater purchasing power and are switching from buying basic models to the more sophisticated product ranges.”
European brands are registering a rising presence in four of the five countries with one in every three food preparation appliances, vacuum cleaners and irons sold in the region being of continental origin.
This has made European manufacturers the dominant contributors to the total sales value in the respective categories.
Among all the SDAs tracked, rice cookers were the region’s most purchased appliances by consumers.
Over 13.8mn units were sold in the last 12 months, 860,000 units more than a year ago.
Generating more than $355 mn in sales, this appliance is also biggest in terms of market worth. It is however the vacuum cleaner segment which experienced the greatest volume growth of 8%, driven by Indonesia and Thailand whose respective markets saw intensified volume sales by 23 and 17%, respectively.
“Thanks to the Chinese New Year celebrations across the region, performance of the small domestic appliances sector soared in the first two months of this year as more rice cookers, food preparation appliances and vacuum cleaners were purchased to help households with their cooking and spring cleaning during this period,” highlighted Lim.
“The uptrend for SDA products is likely to continue, driven especially by strong demand in the region’s developing markets,” said Lim. “A generally positive performance throughout last year and the sustained growth momentum reflected in the first two months of this year present an optimistic outlook for this sector, which is anticipated to remain in healthy territory in the months ahead,” Lim concluded.
— GfK & Phuket Gazette
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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