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Planning to buy an AC, TV or washing machine this festive season? You may soon have to pay more.
Leading appliance makers are preparing another round of price hikes from October 1, with AC prices expected to rise around 5-8%, while washing machines, refrigerators and LED TVs could become roughly 3-4% more expensive. For the industry, this will be the third round of price increases in 2026.
The why: almost everything needed to make and move these appliances has become more expensive.
Take an AC. It needs copper for its coils and pipes, steel and aluminium for different components, and plastics made using crude-oil derivatives. On top of that, companies need to ship these materials and finished products around.
Now, copper, aluminium, steel, plastics and freight costs have all risen, while currency movements have made imported components more expensive. The ongoing West Asia crisis has added further pressure to commodity and transportation costs.
Copper is particularly important. Haier says an AC can use around 3-4 kg of copper, while copper prices have climbed from roughly $8,000-9,000 per tonne last year to around $14,500.
Who is raising prices:
LG and Hitachi ACs have also reportedly seen increases. Panasonic is still evaluating its next move.
Godrej expects industry-wide hikes of around 5-7%
Daikin has already raised prices by 8-10% from September 16.
Haier plans to raise AC prices by about 5% from October 1, along with smaller increases for TVs and washing machines.
Blue Star has increased AC and deep-freezer prices by around 5-8%.
There’s more, Haier has indicated that if costs remain high, it could raise AC prices again around December and January, taking its cumulative increase to roughly 15% between now and January.
Zoom out: the festive period from Onam through Diwali can contribute around 30-40% of annual appliance sales. Companies don't exactly want to scare shoppers away during their biggest selling season.
There is some good news.
Dealers stocked up on appliances in August and September at older prices. Godrej expects that inventory to last roughly one to one-and-a-half months, meaning many Diwali shoppers could still find products carrying older prices. Online festive sales and bank discounts could soften the blow further.
Big picture: consumers are already feeling the pressure. Prices across several appliance categories have risen roughly 11-15% since January, according to Haier, while higher prices have previously pushed some shoppers towards cheaper alternatives or delayed purchases altogether.
So, that shiny festive discount may still be there. It could just be sitting on top of a higher price tag.
