Livpure, a SAR Group company, is set to enter the air-conditioners segment. It plans to launch a range of smart air-conditioners with air purification functions later this month.
Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, Livpure, said, “We are not targeting the mass market. The reason we are getting into the segment is that we see an intersection between the air purity segment, smart appliances and the air-conditioners segment.”
“We believe what is being sold as smart ACs in the market currently is not offering anything meaningful to the consumers and we hope to change that with our differentiated approach,” he added. The company’s focus will be on offering end-to-end automated products that can intelligently perform various functions without human intervention.
Smart home solutions
Livpure has been working on a smart home solutions platform for the past three years. For starters, it is piloting Livpure Smart which is a pay-per-use water service model for residential consumers. Currently being offered in two cities, through this service, consumers get access to IoT-enabled water purifiers at a nominal rate charged per litre with zero-buying and maintenance costs at home. While it plans to expand this service to more cities, the company has set its sights on the smart air-conditioners segment.
Malhotra said the move is aligned with the company’s ambition to eventually offer complete smart home solutions. “We will add more services and appliances to our smart home platform later this year for the discerning consumers,” he added.
Livpure will initially launch its smart ACs range on the e-commerce platform. “ But we will follow the omni-channel strategy and make this range available at offline stores,” he added. Asked about revenue expectations, Malhotra said, “ By next financial year, we expect to earn revenues in the range of ₹200-250 crore from this segment.”
Market size
The AC market in India is pegged at a little less than 6 million units in terms of annual sales and the category has very low penetration levels. But the market is cluttered with a large number of domestic and international players.
Livpure is hoping to create a differentiator with its smart air-conditioners. “There is big headroom for growth with rising disposable incomes and we expect to see an explosive growth in the air-conditioner segment in the coming years,” Malhotra said.