At 30, Devita Saraf (CEO Vu Technologies and Executive Director, Zenith Computers) would seem too fresh and young a face out to battle against the mighty Goliaths in the world of technology. But that’s where most face readers go wrong. Devita, daughter of one of the original entrepreneurs in the Indian hardware technology space (Raj Saraf, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Computers) is as brave as she is enterprising. Call it stubbornly following passion, or a wise manner of following your gut, Devita is out to serve a concoction of luxury and technology to the Indian buyer. She started Vu in 2005, and despite the fact that many still question her capabilities of taming the wild in the technology space, the brand has grown to become a widely recalled name in the display space. From banks to five star chains across the country, Devita wants to make her mark with Vu Technologies in the world of research, designs and innovation. And the competition is all eyes to read her moves and travel schedule – they know she wakes up on the right side of the bed each morning. Excerpts from B&E’s interview with the Vu founder.
B&E: Much has been heard about Vu (pronounced as “View”) Technologies, but not many know much about the brand yet. Can you share the vision behind the founding of Vu?
Devita Saraf (DS): The vision behind VU was to combine luxury with technology. I wanted to create a high-end brand for the Indian market, a brand that would not cater to the needs of the mass market and would command a high value quotient in the luxury market. When I say “luxury”, I don’t just mean hardware and experiences that come expensive. Luxury would mean that kind of an experience and quality that will give your a superior lifestyle and a feeling of luxury. At present, we have become strong in the display space. I would say, Vu is more an experience than a lovely looking piece of hardware.
B&E: In the past six years, since its inception Vu has become a leading brand in the luxury LCD and LED TVs space. What differentiated technological offerings does Vu present to consumers in India?
Devita Saraf (DS): We are a full-fledged display company. We manufacture displays for both consumers and corporates and our specialty is that we are the only company in the country that offers A and A+ panels. Even our competition, companies such as Sony, Samsung etc, are offering B and B- panels in India. In fact, we only sell A or A+ grade panel so the quality of our products is much better compared to our competition. Further, we are the only company in the world which produces customised displays. We don’t outsource work from one team to another. We interact directly with clients and innovate display products based on their needs, and Vu product development teams across the world work as one to deliver innovation, quality and value. A customer can order for a screen which has an in-build PC or a Mac, a Linux or an Android or any other kind of platform that he wishes for. Hence, people who buy our screens don’t use it for just regular TV viewing, they also use it for a variety of purposes, from gaming to surfing the web.
B&E: What was the vision behind founding of Vu Technologies? Why was the name Vu chosen?
DS: Well, in marketing there’s something called a Zebra word – you innovate your own word that nobody knows or has. Being a display company we wanted a unique name that ensures we are noticed by consumers in this cluttered TV market. Interestingly, Vu is a short form of ‘View’ as in our SMS generation there’s a short form for everything. At Vu, our aim is to keep-up with the changing technologies and lifestyle of today’s consumer. A decade ago, televisions were just considered mediums of entertainment. But with our advanced features and innovative technologies, we have provided a whole new definition to displays and will continue to do so in the future. In fact, we aim to bring our displays to every meeting room or conference room in every organisation.
B&E: How critical is R&D and innovation at Vu Technologies when it comes to offering the best in technology in the consumer space?
DS: It is very important because at the end of the day what I am selling to you today is something that we started to work on and research months ago. We constantly observe what are the latest trends abroad, what are the latest product offerings and make sure that we are selling the most advanced products to our customers. For instance, it was just six months ago when we had announced the concept of an 84 inch ultra HD 4 k TV, come today and we are already selling the product. We are very quick in discarding our products if they go out fashion. While a lot of companies are still selling LCDs, we are now only focussing on LEDs. In fact, our NPD (New Product Development) Center is constantly innovating new display products and we launch newer display categories every year. However, it is as much about the senses as it is about the science. Our products are easy to use, interactive and most pleasing on the eye.
B&E: 3D camera is also a widely talked about offering from your company. What is unique about this product?
DS: The market is full of 3D TVs, but there is still very little content available for the viewers. With the Vu 3D camera, a user can capture 3D HD movies and still photographs in real time with its dual lens-dual sensor (DLDS) technology, a feature which is not available in conventional digital cameras. The 3D camera comes with two 16-megapixel sensors. It has the capability to connect to an HD TV via HDMI cable and allows for live streaming of video in 3D and 2D. The device also comes with a 32GB expandable SD card slot. In fact, it’s the first of its kind in India.
B&E: What is Vu doing to enhance technology that is used in telepresence in the country?
DS: Vu TelePresence is a separate entity. Launched in 2006, it has grown to become the leading affordable telepresence solution provider in the world. By leveraging the power of the Internet, Vu TelePresence helps businesses of all sizes to communicate globally, affordably, and naturally without the high cost or low quality associated with existing video conference alternatives.
B&E: What was the chief idea behind the Vu Super TV? How is it a generation ahead of the pack in terms of technology?
DS: As I mentioned earlier it’s a TV which comes with an inbuilt PC. Apart from that our Super TV series has a full HD 1080p 3D rendering capabilities, as well as features like Internet, social connectivity, Microsoft Apps, Gaming and Digital Multimedia Connectivity. The TV also allows streaming for a wide variety of movies, TV shows, videos and music from Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand. Additionally, Vu’s Super TV comes packaged with a wireless keyboard for using the TV in PC mode, 3D glasses for viewing 3D content on the TV. In fact, all our Super TVs are devised in a way that makes them upgradable in the future. For example, if a customer prefers more feature additions, the already existing mechanisms allow for these changes to be made, a feature no other provider offers.
B&E: You claim that you only choose the top 20% of LEDs produced to ensure best picture quality in the products that you bring to market. At the same time, you maintain that “Vu has always believed in controlling the costs to provide that we can pass on the price benefit to the customer and maintain the best prices in the industry.” What is the positioning strategy of VU – quality differentiation or price leadership?
DS: Consumers always look for QSP – quality, service and price – while buying a product. If you have a very unique product but people can’t afford it, it makes no sense. But then, if I offer the lowest price, I might have to compromise on quality. However, Vu has always believed in controlling the costs so that it can pass on the price benefit to the customer and maintain the best prices in the industry. This makes it convenient for clients and gives us a competitive edge.
B&E: The company claims that it is “idea driven with Display as a platform” – can you explain how focussing on display will lead you to present the best in technology in the Indian market?
DS: We believe that display is the new paper. In today’s world everyone uses displays to show content, share content, create content and more. People interact on displays and cannot imagine their lives in this era without having the world of information in digital format, where they want it and when they want it. So, we have made it a point to ensure that most of our products have the ability to live up to the current market requirements. In fact, our company is very close to its customer. We spend a lot of time in interacting with clients to understand what they want in a product. This helps us in bringing out the best in technology.
B&E: Industry players have confessed to B&E that the television (LED and LCD segment) market is a challenging one as far as margins are concerned. Wafer thin is what they claim it to be. In fact, the television division of Sony is loss-making at present. Why did you choose to get into such a tough market?
DS: The reason we choose this category was because it is both competitive and growing at a great pace. When I started the business in 2006, the market was just about 300,000 televisions a year. Today, it has reached 5,000,000 units a year. Imagine the growth. The likes of Samsungs and Sonys might claim that this segment is a tough one to survive in, but they in fact only say so to create an artificial entry barrier. If TV-making burns cash then why are they into this business? I think the fact that margins are wafer thin in this business is simply lies.
B&E: You say that luxury for you is not all about charging a high price. So don’t you sell expensive hardware too?
DS: We have two categories of products. One is luxury and the other is affordable luxury. Affordable luxury is something that I sell out of Croma – the 24 /32/40-inch varieties of television. Then at my stores – like the ones at Select City Walk (Saket, New Delhi) and Phoenix (Mumbai), we sell the high-end variety of TVs – like the 84-inch LED that we have just launched. Our premium priced products are completely customised as per the wants of buyers.
B&E: Talking about promotions, unlike most other brands in the business of manufacturing and selling LEDs and LCDs, you don’t advertise very regularly or make your brand visible. For instance, A Standard Chartered customer will be lucky because he can view a Vu LED at the bank’s branches. But someone who would be a customers of another bank wouldn’t be that lucky. Why so?
DS: To be very honest, we have been very selective with the way we market our products, promote our brand and choose the segment to sell our brand to. If you start seeing a Vu product in every nook and corner of cities like Delhi and Mumbai, that feeling of exclusivity gets killed. Our premium buyers will feel cheated because in any case, had they wanted a mass brand they would have purchsed one of those everyday brand and not Vu. Today all five star hotel chains are my customers. There is no luxury hotel chain in this country that is not my buyer. In a country like India where there is so much demand for the mass product and where premium value of a product has to be rightly preserved, awareness by advertising in the right places is the most important element of marketing your brand.
B&E: So you chose the Windows 8 for your new 84-inch LED?
DS: Yes. Because that OS is the latest in the market. But our buyers can even install the Windows 7 version if they feel that the tile system of Windows 8 makes them uncomfortable. Actually, we chose Windows 8 because this OS has especially been created for touch screens.
B&E: Why didn’t you get into software as a service model? Or do you have plans to diversify into anything other than hardware?
DS: Like my father, I let my gut and passion do the decision-making. But I almost always also go by common wisdown. I’ve always had a product-driven mentality. And we are not a service company because service is not in my blood. My brother has a software company. He is into software whereas I am hardware person.
B&E: In a market like India, it’s always considered wiser to move at a lag to the innovation crest. Aren’t you running too fast in the name of innovation?
DS: India is not an innovation-driven market. Indian customers are concerned more about other elements of a hardware than innovation. Yes, there are exceptions, but this is mostly the case. We didn’t want to suffer from what is called the innovator’s dilemma. We want to create new products everyday and sell it if that can be done. If every product doesn’t work, some will. At least on the part of Vu, that would be enough to justify its existence as an innovation leader, whether in India or US.
B&E: And China?
DS: After India, US and Europe are way more exciting markets for us.
