- VU Technologies said Tuesday it sold a record 50,000 TV sets in the largest selling category of 4 K TVs in May, even as the lockdown continued throughout several parts of the nation.
VU Technologies said Tuesday it sold a record 50,000 TV sets in the largest selling category of 4 K TVs in May, even as the lockdown continued throughout several parts of the nation.
His chairman and chief executive Devita Saraf said the brand ‘s performance was “standing” compared to an industry reeling under the pressure of lackluster demand during the COVID-19 lockdown and claimed to have emerged as the largest selling television brand in May, ahead of rivals such as Samsung, LG, Sony, and the Chinese MI.
Speaking to PTI, she attributed the high sales to anti-China sentiment and also to customer service, in which the company replaced TV sets if it could not repair them
It can be noted that there have been widespread calls in recent weeks to boycott both Chinese goods and software, as the tensions on the borders are growing.
Saraf said consumers in the premium segment – 4 K TV retailers ranging from Rs 25,000 to 48,000 depending on the size – have become very discerning, and with TVs being more sophisticated, they also understand the privacy issues that emerge from using Chinese apps like Tiktok or UC browsers.
“The anti-China sentiment is boosting our sales,” she said, adding e-commerce major Flipkart, who used to sell 200 units a day, reported days of selling more than 2,000 TV sets in a single day.
Parrying a query about the previous high on monthly sales, Saraf said the company is importing the television sets as fully-built units and doing some local assembly before sending them to the customer. She added that the sets come from not just China but also other countries.
Saraf, who is the full owner of the entire company, said she played the lockdown months in an opportunistic manner in which the inventory levels were maintained in such a way as to meet the demand increase.
The organization has not taken any negative acts against its workers, she said, adding that people have been paying bonuses to help them meet their expenses.
Addressing concerns about decreasing discretionary expenditure due to aspects such as job losses, wage cuts, or lack of optimism, Saraf said the demand for television sets has grown as it has become a necessity during the lockdown with some households buying multiple sets as all family members are confined to homes.
She also said the pricing power was not affected, emphasizing that her focus is on profitably growing, even if it means that the revenues do not rise above 20-25 percent per year.
It will be very difficult to forecast the remainder of the fiscal year and the company will respond to changes in the marketplace as they come, she said.
