When 0.92mm emerged into the market a few years before, that time the Ply Reporter repeatedly published, stating that "there are various cases of miscalculated plans and products that look good in the short term but act as a loss maker for a company in the long term." The current saturation before the 0.92 mm laminate segment is that customers based in metros and big cities are losing trust.
Today, the market feedback from even smaller cities show that product differentiation between cheap and expensive, or good quality and cheap quality, getting blurred due to unhealthy competition. In HPL, people want to expand nationwide in a very short time, but the product is accepted according to the diverse cultures, tastes, and affordability of different classes of people.
Around five or six years ago some decorative laminate producers opted for a new strategy, and a number of players came up with 0.92mm laminate to grab the market, offering the product at a 25% cheaper price than 1 mm. They attracted customers in the metros and big cities to a great extent and the segment spread throughout cities, particularly in western and central markets such as Mumbai, Pune, Baroda, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Indore, Bhopal, Jaipur, etc. But due to the quality deterioration in this segment of offerings, its market has once again moved towards 1 mm.
The study done among retailers indicates that many big clients associated with them do not like 0.92 mm laminates. According to them, promoting 0.92 mm would dent their image, so they don’t want to sell it. Many other retailers are also unwilling to sell it. The non-folder category is also focusing on quality, and the players are not interested in promoting their offerings in 0.92 mm. They are conscientious and want to promote only highquality laminate with a thickness of 1 mm and made from high-quality paper and plates. But according to a Ply Reporter survey, this segment of laminates is seen in tier-3 cities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and other states.
In Gujarat, 0.92 folders were discovered and liked by customers in cities such as Navsari, Bhuj, Godhra, Patan, Palanpur, Vejalpur, Jetpur, Morvi, Mehsana, Balwswar, and Bharauch. Similarly, in cities like Nasik, Diveagar, Khandala, Lonavala, Aurangabad, Rajmachi, and Guhagar, etc in Maharashtra, and Pipli, Chiitorgarh, Shahpura, Ranakpur, Jodhpur and Bikaner etc in Rajasthan, and other states also 0.92 mm presence has been felt, and the penetration is increasing but this segment of laminate is getting a close fight with 0.8 mm laminates.