Where lies the growth for refrigerator makers?

From luxury living rooms to rural homes, refrigerators have become a must - have for more than half of Bangladeshi households. As the market matures, brands are shifting their focus — chasing both first - time buyers and return customers seeking bigger, smarter, and more efficient models.

Over the past decade, the annual demand for refrigerators in Bangladesh has nearly quadrupled to around 35 lakh units. This surge is driven by local manufacturing, rising purchasing power, and changing lifestyles.

Walton Hi - Tech Industries is leading the charge, now controlling more than two - thirds of the market and becoming a billion - dollar company in the process. Other major brands like Vision, Konka, Singer, Jamuna, Minister, My One, Orion, LG, Samsung, and Hisense are also competing for market share.

Even after refrigerators have made their way into more than half of Bangladeshi homes, companies are not slowing down. They continue to invest in larger factories, advanced technologies, and product innovation.

So what's next? Industry insiders say the focus is now twofold: reaching first - time buyers and upgrading existing users to newer, larger, and more high - tech models.

" The repeat buyers are more lucrative for most of the brands," said Nur Alam, executive director of RFL Electronics, the manufacturer of Vision refrigerators.

A 2023 government survey suggests 53.4% of the over 3.5 crore Bangladeshi households have a refrigerator—70% in the urban and 48% in the rural areas. Refrigerator marketers, keeping in mind that one in every five households is below the poverty line in Bangladesh, only eye the untapped one - fourth of the country's households considered to be lower middle class.

"At least half of the existing users are expected to replace their refrigerator in the next one decade," said J M Taslim Kabir, head of marketing at Fair Group, the manufacturer of Samsung and Hisense products in Bangladesh.

First - time buyers look for budget options in basic, smaller fridges. They prefer purchasing in instalments, he said, adding excessive focus on the segment may deprive a company of returns against research and development (R & D) cost and the working capital deployed. His company is more for affordability of the higher - end freezes, as this attracts the high - income and upper - middle - income families.

Refrigerator big boy Walton started even before, with its continuous investments in the largest refrigerator R&D unit in South Asia and launching models with new features. The result is already evident. Four of every 10 Walton freezes are being bought by the betterment seekers, significantly higher than in 2017 - 18, according to the company.