THE local unit of Japanese air-condition maker Daikin is batting for a P2.6-billion sales level for fiscal year 2017, on the back of demand from residential and commercial sectors.
In an interview with reporters on Thursday, Daikin Philippines President Lee Wai Kok said the air-cooling solutions provider is set to end fiscal year 2016 (ending this March) with a sales haul of P2 billion.
For the incoming fiscal year, Daikin Airconditioning Philippines is eyeing a triple-digit growth of 135 percent to reach P3.5 billion.
This is a feasible target, as Daikin has been notching an average growth of 130 percent to 140 percent since 2011, Kok said.
“The residential and commercial sectors have been driving growth, specifically condominium projects,” Kok added.
Even as the air-condition maker is now making a concerted effort to introduce energy-efficient technology, a fourth of the company’s sales is still taken up by window-type airconditioners.
The company is said to be among the top 5 air-condition makers in the country.
“The market for window type, for the whole market, is 400,000 to 500,000 units. The split-type market is still at 200,000 units, but we’ll be penetrating the window type with our new products,” the executive said.
The company is slated to introduce split-type airconditioners with noninverter technology this year as a strategy to eat into the market of the legacy window-type products.
Currently, the company has no plans to establish manufacturing operations in the Philippines, as it has not achieved economies of scale in the local market.
The company has 200 distribution points in the Philippines and is scheduled to add three more this year. It currently has a manufacturing footprint in Asia, with operations in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.