With Cinema TV launch, VU Technologies expects to cash on Indian Premier League, Olympics The company expects 20-25 per cent sales growth with these scheduled sports and athletics extravaganzas
By Prasannata Patwa •
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To tap the demand for television sets ahead of the widely-followed Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament starting in March and Summer Olympics scheduled in July in Tokyo, Japan, VU Technologies Pvt. Ltd. on Wednesday launched VU Cinema TV in attract the OTT watchers.
Reed Hastings-owned Netflix, E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Prime, and Star India-run Hotstar, among others, are a few over-the-top (OTT) media services.
The latest launch comes within three months of the company's festive collection launch. The Mumbai-based appliance maker also targets 20-25 per cent growth in sales. " We have been selling about 4.5 lakh TV sets now. With this launch we are expecting to sell about 6 lakh TVs," said Devita Saraf, chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO), VU Technologies Pvt. Ltd., in an interview.
The Cinema TV is available in 43-, 50- and 55-inches options with 40-watt tweeter, and retail prices starts at about INR 27, 000. A tweeter, or a treble speaker, is commonly used to increase sound frequency, in loudspeakers used for playing music.
"This television is specifically designed keeping in mind the viewing pattern of today's millennials who prefers to watch content across OTT platforms. Consumers can save expensive movie theatre tickets and get cinema-like picture quality on OTT content from the comfort of their homes," said Saraf.
Founded in 2006, the company started by the-then 24-year-old Saraf started selling technology-packed television sets at affordable prices. Urban buyers are the company's target market and about 78 per cent of the company's sales comes from the urban consumer. Goa, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, among other states, are a few major territories outside the metro cities which contribute to its sales.
There is a glut of television makers in the Indian market with prominent brands including Samsung, Panasonic and Sony, and not to forget Chinese giant Xiaomi. Mobile phone brand One Plus is the latest television seller in the domestic market. Due to fierce competition, margins on products are wafer thin.
Saraf claims her company has grown 14 per cent year-on-year with volume being up by 20 per cent in the year to date.
The consumer electronic industry as a whole has witnessed a slowdown in demand in the past three quarters. The October-December quarter, which a highly anticipated festive season for television and washing machine sellers, saw a drop in television demand, according to The Economic Times. Televisions saw a 9-10 per cent drop in sales due to shift in consumption habit to smartphones, said the report.
