Venture firms develop coin-sized MP3 player
Two local venture firms announced yesterday that they succeeded in developing the world's smallest and lightest MP3 player, a breakthrough that highlights yet again this nation's prowess in the newly emerging portable device industry.
Station Z and Eratech Co., two small venture firms that specialize in making MP3 players, unveiled the coin-sized MP3 player named EMP-Z, which will enter into mass production beginning early next month.
The EMP-Z model boasts the smallest size of anmy MP3 player, 42mm in diameter and 10 mm in thickness, resembling, at a glance, a 500 won coin. Its weight of 15 grams is lighter than that of two 500 won coins put together, according to the companies.
Excluding the embedded rechargeable batteries, the MP3 players will weigh less, about half of the weight of the current lightest models in the market, the companies said.
In order to reduce both the size and weight of the device, the two companies have focused on "slimming down" by getting rid of non-core functions such as voice recording. Moreover, they combined the USB port and the earphone jack in an effort to simplify the device.
Through the combined port, users can download music files, mostly in the form of MP3s, and recharge the embedded batteries at the same time. In addition, like other MP3 devices, the new model can also serve as a portable data storage device, the companies explained.
"We expect the sales of the new MP3 player model in local markets alone to reach 10,000 units a month once the product hits the market," Kim Kyeung-yong, president of Eratech, forecasted. "The combined sales in foreign markets such as Japan, China, the United States and European nations are also expected to be brisk, exceeding 20,000 units a month,"
The two venture companies are planning to supply the jointly-developed product to Japan under the brand name of TDK and to Germany through distributor dnt, in an effort to capitalize on those firms' their brand power, which is already entrenched in the local markets, officials of the companies said.
(kokobj74@heraldm.com)
By Koh Byung-joon
2003.07.22
