The situation induced by the Corona enforced lock-down has led to an unexpected surge in demand for quality entertainment systems, especially in the feature rich, but reasonably priced segment. This has come about because of the simple fact that members of the family are now being forced to spend a substantial amount of time indoors, often packed around the single television set, which has with time and advancement in technology, evolved into an “entertainment station”.
Apart from offering the usual staple of all available television channels, such entertainment stations double up a fully functional music systems and are also web-enabled, which offer them seamless access to the world wide web and everything it has on offer. With state-of-the-art technology, that beams hyper realistic pictures, crystal clear surround sound and hassle-free web integration, these systems offer the latest, post-modern home theatre experience and are naturally flying off the shelves, considering the near revolutionary prices at which they are being offered.
Says Rais Qureshi, the Managing Director of SkyLed, “the Indian consumer has always been very technologically savvy and it is natural that they are lapping-up the latest offering from Sky TV: the 55-inch 4K UHD. It is an Android Bazleless LED TV. It uses the most modern Android TV 8 Operating system, has screen mirroring features and inbuilt Google Play Store. The system comes with two HDMI slots and two USB ports which addresses most of the connectivity issues faced by users and has inbuilt wi-fi and Bluetooth capabilities.”
The SkyLed 55-inch 4K UHD all-in-one entertainment station also comes with a smart voice-command enabled remote control, which according to Rais Qureshi will become the standard in the future, thought they are now considered cutting edge in terms of technology. Incorporating the Digital Dolby sound technology, the SkyLed 55-inch 4K UHD also offers Audio OUT, just in case the consumer wants to plug the system on to external speakers, “through the sound quality in terms of tone, tenor and volume is more than what one can reasonably expect from a home theatre” says Qureshi. The 4K UHD from SkyLed comes with 2GB / 16 GB memory capabilities.
However, the real icing on the cake is the price points at which the sets are being offered. If apples were to be compared to apples, the SkyLed 55-inch 4K UHD seems to be a steal, a fact that is astonishing to put things mildly. When quizzed, Qureshi is candid: “we source our components from, multiple countries in the far east, which is aided by the fact that we have a strong presence geographically. The Made in India SkyLed Televisions, are manufactured here in our facilities in India using the imported knocked down kits. Naturally we have a cost advantage over the competition. However, what really allows us to offer such technologically advanced products at such competitive prices is the fact that we spend almost nothing on advertising and brand building, consciously deciding to pass on the benefits to the consumer as opposed to creating a branding bang, the cost of which has to be ultimately borne by the consumers.”
As one dealer put it, “When a customer walks into my shop, it is the picture quality of a SkyLed that first draws them to it. Then we tell them just how feature rich the sets are. After that, when we tell them the prices, most customers at first cannot believe their ears and we have to explain to them SkyLed’s philosophy of putting the customer’s interest first, which allows them to offer products at such low prices with all the attendant benefits. In terms of quality they are at par with the major brands and I have personally faced very few customer complaints with them.”
“As a matter of fact,” says Qureshi, “the extremely competitive pricing mechanism that we follow often goes against us. While the customer thinks the price is too-good-to-be-true, we lose out on notional profit which we can easily make and most of my financial adviser have asked me to gradually go in for a fatter margin, which will also enable us to pay more to our dealers to tempt them to push sale our products. I don’t do it for two reasons – one because I believe that my products should sell on their intrinsic value and two because I know how much a good television set means to an average middle-class Indian family who aspire for the best in the world but cannot afford them. I don’t want to price SkyLed TV out of their reach either to pay my dealers or the advertising agencies or to enrich myself.”
“If my customers are happy,” says Qureshi with a smile, “the sky will not be the limit for SkyLed.”
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