Saregama has released a 'premium' version of its Carvaan music player that comes pre-loaded with old Indian songs. Saregama said it would release a premium version in an earnings call a few months ago to entice more customers during the festival season. Even as much of the music listening experience moves online to platforms like YouTube and music streaming apps like Gaana and Saavn, Saregama managed a sleeper hit with Carvaan. It is the first significant product the company — which is primarily a music label and production house — has offered directly to consumers. The premium version of Carvaan will have a companion app that lets users play songs from the device on demand (as opposed to randomly looping songs based on singer or category). Carvaan sales In Q4 2017–18, Carvaan sold 387,000 units on its one year anniversary, exceeding expectations by 40%. In Q1 2018–19, Saregama had crossed the half-million mark, with a gross margin in the most recent quarter of 23%. These numbers include Carvaan Mini, a smaller, more portable version of the device. Quarter Units sold Gross margin Q1 FY 2017–18 14,000 17% Q2 FY 2017–18 95,000 19% Q3 FY 2017–18 132,000 20% Q4 FY 2017–18 147,000* 22% Q1 FY 2018–19 164,000 23% Total FY 18 5,51,000 ~20.2% The device has launched in Marathi, Bengali, and Tamil as well. Vikram Mehra, Saregama's Managing Director, said in the most recent earnings call, "The good part is [...] that as the volumes are going up, they are not coming…
