The Small Domestic Appliances (SDA) market in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in the last 12 months totaled more than US$804 million, expanding by nearly 6 percent in value year-on-year, according to GfK retail audit findings.

The growth is greatly contributed by consumers buying nearly 1.6 million more small household appliances such as food preparation appliances, irons, rice cookers and vacuum cleaners compared to the previous year, the market research company said.

All five markets registered incremental value growth in the range of 1 and 12 percent, with Thailand exhibiting the strongest jump, followed by Indonesia at 8 percent.

Thailand is also the country with the highest consumption level as consumers there spent more than $235 million on over 9 million units of these appliances, contributing to nearly a third, or 30 percent, in value and volume to the combined SDA market in the region.

“The increasing affluence of households, on top of the rising need for convenience has brought about an upgrading phenomenon which we are witnessing especially in developing countries,” noted Jasmine Lim, Account Director for Home & Lifestyle in GfK Asia.

“In recent times, our findings have shown escalating sales of higher-end appliances— indication of consumers having greater purchasing power and are switching from buying basic models to the more sophisticated product ranges.”

European brands are registering rising presence in four of the five countries with one in every three food preparation appliances, vacuum cleaners and irons sold in the region being of continental origin. This has made European manufacturers the dominant contributors to the total sales value in the respective categories.

Among all the small domestic appliances, the region’s consumers purchased the most rice cookers. Over 13.8 million units were sold in the last 12 months; 860,000 units more than a year ago. Generating more than $355 million in sales, this appliance is also biggest in terms of market worth. It is however the vacuum cleaner segment which experienced the greatest volume growth of 8 percent, driven by Indonesia and Thailand whose respective markets saw intensified volume sales by 23 and 17 percent.

“The uptrend for SDA products is likely to continue, driven especially by strong demand in the region’s developing markets,” said Lim.

“A generally positive performance throughout last year and the sustained growth momentum reflected in the first two months of this year present an optimistic outlook for this sector, which is anticipated to remain in healthy territory in the months ahead,” said Lim.