Dubai: Eros Group, a Dubai-based electronics retailer, expects revenues to jump by nine per cent this year, to Dh4.8 billion compared to Dh4.4 billion last year, due to the drop in oil prices and the rouble effect.
Even though Eros projected a 15 per cent year-on-year growth last year, they could only grow seven per cent in revenues.
Niranjan Gidwani, deputy CEO of Eros Group, told Gulf News that the first half of 2014 was good but from July onwards it was a tough year for the consumer electronics segment.
“All these factors had created an uncertainty and a slowdown in decision making. This year is also expected to be challenging and we are taking a cautious stand. The overall environment and market sentiment is not as buoyant as we expected,” he said.
“With the way the currency markets are headed and the UAE being an import-based economy, we feel some reasons to be cautiously optimistic as opposed to being very optimistic in the previous year as costs are rising and the sentiment is a little on the slower side,” he said.
Tablets, home appliances and smartphones were the main drivers for the group in 2014. Tablet sales grew but not at the same volume levels as in 2013.
He said the TV market grew in value but not in numbers. In number, it was stagnant. The flat-panel TVs are having a slowdown or stagnation.
The drastic fall in TV prices did not translate into large numbers for Eros.
“There were days when people were putting TVs in every room, but now people do not feel the need to change it rapidly as compared to a smartphone which they carry always,” he said.
Apart from the usual tablets, home appliances and smartphones segments, Eros sees growth coming from the wearable segment this year.
He said the wearable market is reaching a stage where premium Swiss watchmakers are beginning to take notice of the segment as it may pose a threat to them.
With the launch of Apple smartwatch, he said that it will get popularised and the category will begin to open up.
According to analysts, the new TV technology to be launched this year, also known as quantum dot, is expected to revive the TV industry.
Quantum dots are just a new film added to an LED screen to produce deeper brightness and richer colours and to withstand the challenge posed by OLED (organic light emitting diode) technology.
Gidwani said that the newness of the technology could trigger a fresh growth in the industry. As compared to an OLED, the picture quality on quantum dot technology is same or slightly better and around 70 per cent lesser in price than an OLED, and around 30 per cent higher than ultra high-definition (4K) TV.
Despite being cautiously optimistic, the group is planning to open three more stores — two stores in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi or Sharjah — this year from the current 33 stores.
