2022.04.27

APPLiA quarter in numbers

APPLiAnytt presents the industry's quarterly figures here. It turns out that even though the comparison to 2021 is slightly negative, the industry's sales are stabilizing at a high post-pandemic level.

March slowed down the industry

The white goods and household appliance industry took its foot off the gas in March. The total figures for MDA (Major Domestic Appliances) and SDA (Small Domestic Appliances) were just over four percent down in the corresponding month in 2021. However, compared to two years earlier (2020), the industry was 17 percent better off in March 2022 than at the start of the pandemic.

Combining MDA and SDA, we see that the trend indicators from Q4-2021 are holding and slowing down the overall outcome compared to previous years also during the first quarter of this year.

• ”"Just like in the fourth quarter of last year, it is the larger white goods (MDA) that are holding up the numbers somewhat, while the household appliances (SDA) have pulled the handbrake tighter since then," comments Tobias Gullberg, statistics manager at APPLiA.

So let's look at how the two main segments have developed in our extended quarterly report, and also how the different categories within MDA and SDA have developed.

 

White goods sales up in the first quarter

White goods (MDA) are keeping up the momentum, increasing both in March by +2.5 percent and throughout the first quarter by a strong +2.7 percent. However, not all categories are contributing to the increase; refrigerators and freezers and microwave ovens are showing negative values for the quarter.

The winning categories are: dishwashers, which was in full swing during the quarter for both the underbuilt 60 cm machines and the 45 cm integrated variants, and also kitchen hoods. Among the fans, it is the traditionally supported fans that account for the highest values.

The plus figure (+4.4%) for "cookers" above is boosted by the category ovens, which is driving the entire increase along with freestanding induction cookers, which also increased significantly during the first quarter.

 

Household appliances slowed down considerably

March looks to be a really bad month for home appliances compared to the record year 2021. Here, the main segment SDA is down 22 percent during the month and down 9 percent for the quarter. But compared to the previous year (2020), the increase in March this year is still double-digit positive.

Among the included categories, there are consistently negative figures except for personal care where two product groups, hair removal (shaving, trimmers, lady shavers, IPL etc.) and dental care (electric toothbrushes), contribute to the 28 percent increase for the segment. Even within certain groups within hair care (hair dryer and airbrush/styler), there are trends towards increased sales after the decline during the pandemic.

When you look at the strong negative number for ironing products above, you're probably wondering when Sweden will finally start ironing shirts and blouses again... Does anyone in our industry have any idea about this?

Kent Oderud, Chairman of APPLiA