Consumer electronics startup Boult is expecting to end the current financial year with a top-line growth of 60% to Rs 800 crore, banking on the growth in its smartwatch segment and higher sales of its premium products, co-founder Tarun Gupta told FE in an interaction.
In FY22, the company reported a profit after tax of Rs 9 crore on a topline of Rs 187.7 crore, according to its RoC filings sourced from Private Circle. In the last financial year, its topline came at about Rs 500 crore.
Known for its audio products, Boult entered the smartwatch segment last year in July and so far has captured a market share of about 5%, following home-grown peers such as boAt and Noise.
“It took us some time to catch up with the catalogue in the smartwatch segment and now we are at a point where we have a full array of products from entry level to the premium segment. We are finally catching up with the demand so we expect to have a share more than 10% very soon,” Gupta added.
While its smartwatch segment is still in nascence, Boult’s Audio products enjoy the second-largest market share in India, followed by boAt. Boult currently sells true wireless earbuds, neckbands, over-ear headphones, speakers and is planning to venture into the home audio segment such as soundbars.
The company also saw more customers opting for premium products over entry or mid level items during the recent online festive sales. “We’re getting a lot of new repeat purchases at the premium segment and we expect the market after the festival to move slightly towards the premium segment,” Gupta said.
Sales such as Amazon’s Great Indian Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Day offer heavy discounts on premium consumer electronics, making this period an attractive buying opportunity. Going ahead, the company plans to focus on launching more products in the premium segment, as this category has seen good offtake in the newer offline channels as well.
The home-grown consumer electronic companies in India usually compete heavily on pricing to beat cheaper imported products. “It has always been a volume game for us since we try to give a very affordable price to our end customers. This is why a big chunk of sales come from tier 2 and tier 3 because that’s where the volumes come from,” Gupta said.
To further boost sales and visibility, the company has recently made a foray into offline distribution and plans to have its presence in general trade and modern trade stores and large retailers across the country in the coming months. Most of its Indian rivals such as Fire Boltt, Noise, and boAt already have a strong presence in offline retail.