Founded In 1984 and rechristened as Videotex International Pvt Ltd in 1996, they started manufacturing LED TVsunder own brand name Videotex in 1984and gradually became the major ODM Supplier for CRT TV’s, LED TVs and TV Video & Power Board in India.In 2016, they launched LED TVs under own brand DAIWA.Today, the company has its manufacturing units in UP (Greater Noida), Punjab (Ludhiana) and Himachal Pradesh under Make in India scheme. Presently, Daiwa designs varied products suiting the needs and changing dynamic lifestyle of the businesses and consumers. In an interaction with Mobility magazine, Arjuun Bajaj, Director of Videotex International Pvt Ltd (Daiwa brand), shares their company’s mission, vision and strategies for the Indian market.
“We have over three decades of experience in the market and have been a major ODM for many leading OEMs for LED TVs and motherboards. Today we manufacture LED TVs and Smart TVs to keep in line with the latest trends. We provide the best features at a price point and additional features at an extra affordable price. Our prices are highly affordable compared to other providers. In India, we started Daiwa in 2016 and now we are on all important online sales platforms like Amazon, Paytm and Flipkart etc also we have our own retail channel across India. Now TV is a necessity, no longer a luxury. Now even 32-inch has become so inexpensive. It has become a commodity. Today, people are looking for value-for-money, so we see good opportunity for those who provide devices that meet the desires of the customers. We are well rooted in North and West India regions, and now started forays into South India and other area where our presence is still not strong. In 2019, the trend will be more people will shift to smart TVs,”elaborates,Arjuun Bajaj, Director of Videotex International Pvt Ltd,
Compelled by the undying passion for technology, Daiwa entered the TV Segment in India with one purpose: to offer unprecedented, groundbreaking technology with unmatched quality products and prices. With the tenets of the company grounded in quality and matchless technology, Daiwa is steadfast in its adherence to push the company to unseen heights. Daiwa aims to offer Right Quality Products at the Right Time &the Right Price; refining the TV technology in India.
Talking about the special features of their products, Bajaj asserts, “First our prices are highly affordable, second our picture quality which is a result of our special software features namely Quantum Luminit in our 43, 49, 55 inch 4K Smart Tv’s. In terms of speakers, we design our own speakers that match our products in quality and reliability. Next,the kind of materials we use for our products give the best feeling for the users. Our TVs also have the best search options for the users in terms of language, film star, movies, etc. We are also working on to incorporate several IoT and AI features in our future products. We already gave voice control through app, and we are working on more effective AI features for future.Our prices start from Rs 7690 for TVs and from Rs 12990 for Smart TVs and go upwards depending upon the size and features. OLED technology is still very expensive and the market for them is very small so currently that segment is not our focus. For instance, 4K TV sounds great, but most customers are satisfied with Full HD.”
Acclaimed as a brand for the Indian consumers, Daiwa has demonstrated quick and robust expansion since inception, clocking impressive growth rate within 2 years of presence in the market. Furthermore, Daiwa also has many firsts to its credit for TVs, which includes the first to support Indian power consumption patterns, Box Speakers, Air Mouse and also the first to have the entire back-end integration to manufacture TV. Daiwa proudly Makes in India and stands at the forefront of the technology and innovation.
Regarding their market progress and manufacturing capabilities, Bajajcomments, “Daiwa TVs are selling very well in the market. For the sake of numbers, we sold 25,000 units, including smart and normal TVs, in the months of Sep-Oct-Nov 2019. We produced over 1.5 lakh TVs and 1.5 lakhmotherboards this Diwali, as ODM. By April 2019, we want to push up our monthly sales to 15,000 per month. We are in the process of sign up with more partners. We have 450 employees working in our manufacturing plant. Currently our manufacturing plants are working in only 1 shift and if there is more demand, we can start 2nd shift, so we still have a lot of capacity to meet the increasing demand.”
Daiwa’s SMT (Surface Mounting) for making motherboards in India, Clean Room for Panel assembly, MI (Manual Insertion) line, Automatic FA (Final Assembly) line sets new benchmarks for manufacturing quality and facilities in India. With several strategic tie-ups and partnership in pipeline, the brand aims to expand its product line across categories, enriching the lives of the consumers with technology.
“On the competition front,there is a lot of unfair competition from several brands in the grey market and these brands mainly focus on how to evade the 18% GST and sell, but they cannot stay long in the market. Only those brands which know how to manage their costs, those who have backward integration like Daiwa and who build long-term customer goodwill will survive in the long-run. We have everything starting from R&D, manufacturing to sales network which gives us edge over others. We get 30% sales from T1 cities and the rest from T2 and T3 cities in B2C business. As far as consumer segment is concerned, our current focus is on T2 and T3 cities. As far as pricing trend is concerned, rupee vs dollar value and price-competition are expected to influence pricing in 2019, besides other factors,” clarifies Bajaj.
Daiwa invests heavily in R&D to add value to its offerings. With R&D directed towards the needs of Indian customers, Daiwa today has a robust portfolio of products with the latest and affordable technology. With the dedicated R&D centers in Shenzhen, China and India, and manufacturing units in India, the company brings home strategic technologies to forge new market trends and set new standards for excellence. Daiwa is proud of its team of experts & modern infrastructural capability to design and manufacture top-notch products in a cost-effective way.
Talking about service, Bajajtells, “Our quality policy aims at zero-defect products for high customer satisfaction. Then, we provide 1-year warranty on Daiwa brand products andthere is the option of extended warranty.We supply through offline distributor and dealer channel and also through online channels such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm. We have a service app which has already been downloaded by 20,000 Daiwa consumers. We are happy with what we have achieved and response we are getting from the customers, in just 2 yrs of our presence.”
Regarding promotion, channel strategy and future plans, Bajajreveals, “Our main business and focus is still as ODM from where we get most of our revenues, where Daiwa is our parallel venture for consumers. In the first year, we sold only via online channels and in 2018 we started to supply through offline which is doing well. New we have a team of about 60 handling marketing, sales and service (excluding those in manufacturing). We want to grow slowly but steadily. We do not want to go too fast and then come down. We conducted a promotion campaign in Punjab and soon we will be launching a pan-India campaign. We want to build trust about our brand and products among customers, than simply signing up with brand ambassadors and spending money on them. We have the vision to be No 1 ODM and want Daiwa to be one of the Top 3 TV brands in India in the next decade.
We are also venturing into non-IT segments like washing machines. We already launched 7 models of semi-automatic washing machines. In the next three months, we will be launching another 5 to 7 models. My message to our channel partners, with particular reference to Daiwa brand, is we have 34 years of successful track record with experience in designing, manufacturing and sales of high quality products. If partners to business with us they will have definite opportunity.”