Gopal Jeyaraj | Head – India & SAARC | Anker Innovations in an exclusive interview with TimesTech Buzz unveils their extensive portfolio. Gopal during the interaction takes us across their strategies, the vision of the company and lastly their massive R&D capabilities. More interesting reads in the below interview.
TimesTech Buzz: Tell our readers a bit about Anker Innovations. Strategies, inception and key goals and vision of the company?
Gopal Jeyaraj: Anker Innovations was founded in December 2011 by Steven Yang, a former Google senior engineer and the company’s CEO. Anker’s original product categories are charging wireless audio and unique technologies. Laptop batteries and chargers were, in fact, among Anker’s earliest innovative products. Anker worked on its initial battery for a year, putting a heavy emphasis on R&D and technology. The category was created at prudent price points keeping high-quality batteries in mind, which were superior to the expensive original battery and the inferior third-party battery. With the fast expansion of mobile phones, the emphasis shifted to mobile phone accessories over time. Anker gradually expanded its charging accessories, which included Power Banks, USB cables, and chargers. Anker Innovation has since moved into markets other than charging accessories.
Around 2014, Anker has launched wireless audio products such as wireless headphones and wireless audio. In addition, by 2016, Anker has released clever revolutionary goods such as intelligent cameras and sweeping robots (such as Eufy) and is currently transitioning to the Internet of Things (IoT). Anker is the World’s No.1 Charging Brand and is presently available in over 100 countries.
The company’s mission is to “Build leading brands that consumers love & provide essential services to advance industry.”
TimesTech Buzz: Anker has been pioneering in charging technology, hence how has been the market with wireless charging and other innovations driving the market
Gopal Jeyaraj: Anker focuses on the development of innovative technologies, therefore more than half of its staff work in R&D. This has resulted in the incorporation of cutting-edge technology into charging devices like Power IQ, Stacking Technology, and others. Anker has received 17 IF Design Awards and 14 Red Dot Awards for its more than 1470 patents.
TimesTech Buzz: Which all sectors are of Anker’s pivotal focus and are your solutions targeting the same?
Gopal Jeyaraj: Consumer technology is growing in India, and buyers want to buy higher-quality items and experience technology at a lower cost. We are primarily focused on charging items, audio segments, and robotic vacuum cleaners, as demand for these products is expanding on a daily basis.
TimesTech Buzz: Which quarter saw a massive jump in revenue for your company and why?
Gopal Jeyaraj: The second wave of Covid 19 has a significant influence on consumer technology. Supply chain delays and strong market demand caused a decline in sales, although Anker Innovations saw a significant increase in overall sales during the third quarter of the year(Q3, Oct-Dec).The reason for this is because festivals are celebrated on a massive scale at this time, and people buy a lot of things as companies give huge discounts to entice them in.
TimesTech Buzz: Anker recently celebrated 10-Year Anniversary, how has been the journey, key strategies that have kept your company ahead compared to the existing competitors?
Gopal Jeyaraj: Anker Innovations is very proud to have completed its ten-year anniversary. It’s been a fantastic experience as we’ve developed high-tech consumer durable items and built a dedicated international client base. For the first five years, Anker largely sold globally on Amazon. Following that, we extended into other markets, and the brand is now present in over 100 countries and on various eCommerce sites such as Flipkart in India. We are now seeking a presence in the offline market, as retail outlets have a higher selling rate than the internet market space. This will provide consumers with firsthand knowledge of our products. The brand is heavily focused on the TWS category in Soundcore and plans to debut two new models in the ANC TWS category that are attractively priced. The only thing keeping us ahead of our competition is cost-effective pricing without compromising quality. We also offer customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
TimesTech Buzz: Automation is taking over industries but bringing it to the B2C market seems pretty idealistic. Hence, how do you think to bring your leading Eufy appliances to the mass market or what is your strategy?
Gopal Jeyaraj: Eufy’s products, which include a wide variety of home automation solutions, have been well received in the Indian market. The response has been good and got major traction from the Covid period. With our Robobvac series seeing success, we plan to launch the security solutions, which have a broad potential market range.
TimesTech Buzz: You drive quite an aggressive mindset to challenge newer segments, hence without the right mindset and team it is near to impossible, how do you keep your employees motivated and also if you can highlight your R&D strength.
Gopal Jeyaraj: Anker’s team has been continually trying to build technologies & innovation, that can break the barriers and blend the touch of technology with humans. Our innovations cater to customers while also being relevant to their wants and demands over the years. We have nearly half of our staff contributing to R&D technology that has led the transformation and focus on market trends that keep our team on their toes to keep evolving & going – The future is here!
