A long time ago, there was minimal pollution in the world. Vehicles were few, work pressure was unheard of and the need for consumer durables was considered a luxury. Thereafter, as time went by, with better jobs came the perks—but at a price. Today, man is bombarded with choices but doesn’t realise they have cost him dear. Directly proportionate to lifestyle requirements stand consumer durables that defy their own definition today.

Consumer durables are basically goods that last a long time and are not intended to be bought very frequently, such as televisions, even cars. This might have held good at a time when there was less competition when companies might not have felt the need to upgrade their features too much.

Now—the stakes are higher. Numerous companies are into manufacturing and marketing their products armed with better features to woo the ever-increasing clientele. Bigwigs like Philips, Samsung, LG, Godrej, Haier, and others, are also betting big on health-focussed products to cater to the growing tribe of health conscious people.
This bellyful of goods only help confuse the consumer more. The only logic that appeals thence is we be served the choices, be made aware of what they represent, how they will fare better than the others and then we go about taking a decision.
So what is finally the focus of such companies?
Views
According to Mr Rakesh Sharma, DAP head, Philips, consumers (naturally) want value for money and expect innovation in products. Health concerns today are not just a trend—they have turned lifestyle diseases, he says. He brings out a disturbing fact that 47% children today (urban mostly) suffer from obesity. “The irony is that a majority of the remaining suffer from malnutrition. And there is so much society or the government can do. We want to thus help in our own way by enabling the housewife make healthier meals.”

....And news
Philips has come with a range of products. Mr Sharma clarifies how the Philips water purifier is different from the others. “Most purifiers which use a filter continue to work even after choking, leading to continued inefficiency of the filter. The Philips filter, however, has an Intellilock that stops dispensing water after 3,000 litres. This indicates that the battery needs to be changed. It also gives 99.8% pure water.”

Philips Aluminium juicer: The ALU juicer has a unique micro-mesh filter that extracts upto 70% more juice than other juicers. With its large feeding tube, one does not have to slice, core or chop fruit or vegetables beforehand.
This enables the consumer to have fresh juice, at their convenience and without much hassle.
Health grill: The current lifestyle results in more people eating out and increasing health risks.
Mr Sharma says with the smokeless Philips grill, the family is able to eat in a much healthier manner. So what the family would like eating at a restaurant, as in tandoori items, grilled food like sandwiches, tikka, etc, is now possible at home as well. Also, the oil that drips while cooking, drips into the water chamber ensuring a smokeless environment. This feature did not exist in any other product, he adds. “Our objective is to bring in as many appliances that can help. For eg, the super silent mixer grinder is 25% more silent than other models,” says Mr Sharma. 

Philips has an innovation centre near Hebbal.

More concerns
Health while designing products is a very important consideration, agrees Mr Ramachandran, Director, Sales and Marketing, LG Electronics. “LG products are already designed to deliver maximum health benefits,” he adds. “With rapidly changing lifestyles beset with lot of stress, consumers are seeking help to neutralise the negative effects.”  One of the newer LG products is a high-end refrigerator with a built-in water purifier. “LG as an organisation is also looking at environmental concerns,” says Mr Ramachandran, “with a washing machine that reduces water consumption by around 50%.” This is meant to deal with stress on water availability due to urbanisation, he explains.

First TV-fridge
In order to induce power consumption, the company is working toward five star certification of its high-powered appliances by the end of this year or beginning of next year. LG has come out with a high-end flat-panelled TV called Blackpearl this week. It has also launched the world’s first TV refrigerator—TV DIOS with a 15-inch hi-definition TFT LCD TV installed in the centre of its door. The 795 litres TV DIOS also has a built-in radio tuner providing access to FM stations and is supported by built-in speakers.

It has a patented technology Ice Beam door cooling that cools from not just the sides of the refrigerator but also from the front and the back, ensuring uniform cooling and better food preservation. Thus, this refrigerator brings together the best in food preservation and storage with multi-media functions as a quintessential digital home appliance.

 Where the Bangalore consumer durable market for LG is concerned, Mr Ramachandran feels the high-end market is growing here tremendously. There is more emphasis on lifestyle, that is more globally connected in terms of what is changing.

With all major consumer durable companies vying with each other to provide the impatient but empowered consumer the best of features in all their appliances, it would be safe to say— “ Let the best company win!”