Yahoo Finance ‘People pay too much for Airpods,’ says singer Ray J
Singer Ray J spoke to Yahoo Finance about his Raycon Global earbuds, calling its $80 price tag “so different from what’s out there with the other brands.”
He said the price is a way for the company to rise above the crowded wearables field, which Apple continues to dominate, boosted by sales in Airpods and Apple Watch.
“I think our price point and what we stand for is just totally different from the rest of the brands,” he explained, adding that the company cares about its customers. “We're for the people. I think people are just paying too much for earbuds and AirPods and things.”
Raycon Global co-founder Ray Lee said being a direct-to-consumer brand has also worked as a plus because it provides the company the ability to make “quick iterations” of their products based on customer feedback.
“So as we've scaled, we've actually been able to have and nurture customer relationships with every single one of our customers,” Lee said. “We expect to be over 2 million customers this year. We always like to say internally that our research and development starts with customer experience and pouring through all of our customer feedback that we get every single day.”
When faced with negative reviews, Ray J said the positive comments about the headphone “outweigh” the negative.
“When we started, we were young. We were still trying to find our way. Now that we're four years in, our product is amazing,” said Ray J, adding that the company upgrades the product each time a customer or influencer gives them feedback.
“Every year, every six months, our product is getting better and better,” he explained.
“You'd be surprised to know that what the majority of the population actually wants in earbuds is not having tons of specification stuffed in as in one, like, piece of equipment,” Lee added. “This is truly what the customers will use on a daily basis and really love and not just cooked up by engineers in a white room somewhere by themselves.”
Social media influencers have been a big part of the company’s strategy, Lee said. The website prominently displays celebrities and Instagrammers who support Raycon headphones.
“It's definitely a brand differentiator for us. And it's really within the DNA of our company,” he added. “In today's world, obviously, taste-makers and influencers drive a lot of the culture forward. We truly believe that we're at the intersection of great electronics and audio and culture.”
Lee said he sees “massive opportunity” in terms of growth for the earbud space, telling Yahoo Finance Raycon Global wants to “excel” in international e-commerce. The company is aggressively going into Europe and Asia, a big market for the firm. Retail will also provide more opportunities, he explained. Raycon earbuds have never been sold in retail stores.
In the future, Lee said the company plans to move “horizontally” into other categories of electronics and wearables.
Kristin Myers is a reporter and anchor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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