Dyson revenue surges on demand in Asia

Dyson Ltd, known for its vacuum cleaners, hand driers and air filters, posted a surge in revenue driven by demand from Asia, and revealed a growing shift toward developing autonomous products.

According to James Dyson, the UK company headquartered in rural England, has seen its “center of gravity” tilt toward Asia, from which it last year drew almost three quarters of revenue growth.

Revenue was up 40 per cent to £3.5 billion in 2017, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 27 per cent to £801 million from a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.

According to commentators, continued growth will help fund the company’s bid to build an electric car by 2020. In September, Dyson revealed plans to initially invest £1 billion to develop the project. It had already pledged to spend the same sum on solid-state batteries, with Dyson expecting overall expenditures to increase.

The company has not yet decided where it will manufacture the vehicle, with locations in the UK and Asia being considered.

Dyson has seen the number of staff working on solid-state battery technology double and it is looking to fill over 300 vacancies to work on the new vehicle.

According to Dyson, Asians had an extra-ordinary enthusiasm for technology that works. The continent accounted for 73 per cent of the company’s growth in 2017.

He added that Dyson’s tech appealed to Asia’s fast-growing middle classes who appreciated products such as its premium-priced hairdryers.

The company had also benefited from concern about pollution in the home with its air purifiers, he said. However, its revolutionary bagless dual-cyclone vacuum cleaners, remained the biggest source of profit.

“Our whole emphasis on vacuum cleaners has changed from mains-powered vacuum cleaners that you pull and push - cylinders and uprights - to battery vacuum cleaners,” he told reporters.