DESPITE scorching temperatures, air-conditioning sales have dropped by up to a third this summer, industry experts said yesterday.
“Sales this year have dropped to 25,000 compared with 40,000 last year,” said Domestica Ltd spokesman Marios Hadjioannou.
In contrast to last year, when companies were running out of stock due to huge demand, this year sales have proved disappointing.
“The drop is due to irregular climatic conditions and market saturation. Last year, temperatures were consistently hotter and repeated heat stroke events publicised in the press, scared people into buying air-conditioning systems,” said Hadjioannou.
Irregular weather patterns and clients’ tendency to leave things to the last minute make air-conditioning sales unpredictable, retailers find. “Cypriots are last minute buyers, waiting until temperatures hit 40C before even thinking of buying air-conditioning systems”, said Kypros Pilakoutas from Pilakoutas Air Conditioning, a company that has seen a 20 per cent fall in sales this year.
Even lower prices have not helped increase sales: “Prices on average are lower than last year, starting at approximately £350, including installation”, said Pilakoutas.
All the companies contacted by the Cyprus Mail said July was the most popular month for sales, with only 10-15 per cent of annual sales occurring in the winter months.
A spokesman for Teklima said that there had been a small increase in sales during the winter this year, suggesting some may have learned from last year’s experience when shops sold out because customers were all rushing for air-conditioning at the last minute.
Socratis Papadopoulos from the Emilios Eliades Company said their sales were stable this year and that good service and payment by instalments were ways of attracting customers. However, 60 per cent of clients pay by cash or cheque and few choose the instalment method.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
