Vu Technologies to close this fiscal with Rs 1-1.2K crore revenue: Saraf

Smart television maker Vu Technologies on Wednesday said its business has not been hurt by the overall consumption slowdown in the economy, mainly due to focus on younger buyers. The city-headquartered company will close FY20 with a 14 per cent growth in volumes, but the increase in revenues may not be at par because of a decrease in prices due to factors like cheaper panel costs, its chairperson Devita Saraf said.

"We closed FY19 with a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore and it will remain between Rs 1,000-1,200 crore in FY20," she told PTI over the phone, stressing that the company's focus is on growing profitably despite it being a very competitive market. When asked about impact of the consumption slowdown, she said while other brands have suffered a de-growth, Vu has been able to notch a 14 per cent growth in volumes at six lakh units as against 4.5 lakh in the year-ago period.

She said the company is owned fully by her and has been profitable for the last eight years. From an investment perspective, she said it may look at using Indian labs more for research and product development because of the talent the country possesses to develop intuitive consumer products. It will continue to rely on product manufacturing in countries like China and Taiwan because of the capabilities that are present there, she said, adding that the company gets the panels done in Japan.

The company spends over Rs 10 crore for research every year, which includes software development in the US in association with Silicon Valley based OTT players like Netflix and the hardware out of Indian labs, Saraf said. She also said that over a fourth of her time is spent on this.

When asked for reasons the company is able to notch up the volume growth, Saraf hinted that a focus on the millennial segment will be helpful as over 90 per cent of its customers are under 40. On competitive pressures, she said a greater reliance on direct selling to customers without intermediaries has helped it reduce prices.

At present, it has a market share of over 8 per cent in the industry which makes it fourth in the pecking order. The company launched a new range of smart TVs aimed at those watching movies in their homes, with the base 43 inch model starting at Rs 24,000, she said.

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