Amid the slowdown in growth of major appliances between 2014 and 2015, dishwashers still grew steadily at 3.3% in volume in 2015. It is projected that the sales growth of dishwashers will also outperform other major appliances in the 2015-2020 period.
Although North America and Western Europe will still be the largest regional markets in 2020, the high penetration rates will limit the further growth potential of dishwasher sales. Instead, four Asia Pacific markets, namely China, Vietnam, India and Thailand, will lead the sales growth of dishwashers. This is because the growth of disposable income in these four countries will increase the purchasing power of consumers so that they can afford dishwashers to save them the daily chore of washing the dishes. In addition, the faster growth in labour costs in these four countries will mean more families will find dishwashers more attractive in order to reduce their outgoings. The low penetration rates in these four countries will also offer lots of room for dishwashers to grow. In terms of competition in dishwashers, with a long history of and worldwide reputation for producing dishwashers, the US and European manufacturers still lead the world sales rankings in 2015, but they might be advised to invest heavily in both localised product development and marketing in Asia Pacific markets in order to remain global leaders in the 2015-2020 period.