Replies to post #58740 on e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[acrazjo]

Go Digitalway!! eom

[newelong]

Re: Digitalway ...

Subject: RE: Mpio/
From: cksla
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 (EST) at 5:08:46 PM
Response To: cksla PostID 306545

Samsung Electronics and Digitalway also predict their cumulative MP3 player sales to top the 1-million mark by the year's end this year.

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12-30-2003 19:35
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200312/kt2003123019343811860.htm


Subject: Mpio/
From: cksla
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 (EST) at 5:00:41 PM

Dec.31,2003 MP3 Spelled Success for Korean Electronics Firms
by Tak Sang-hoon ([e-mail])

Korean producers of MP3 players are now leading the global market share. The reason is simple: Korean companies¡¯ technology and design are better than that of their U.S and Japanese competitors. Only Korean makers can produce MP3 players half the size of a business card and with a sophisticated design, which can store as much as four hours of music.
Korean companies represented 35 to 40 percent of the global market in 2003. Two domestic companies, Digital Way and Reigncom, have since won the largest market share in the United States and in the European Union.

Best Buy, an electronic goods chain store with 650 locations across the United States, is the first target for makers of electronic equipment wanting to make inroads into the country. In a Best Buy store on Mira Mesa Boulevard in San Diego on Dec. 3, Digital Way's ''mpio'' MP3 players were sold out, while other companies¡¯ players were still on the shelves. A sales person said that Korean MP3 players are popular because they have a beautiful design and good quality, as well as a low price. Insufficient supply is the main problem, he added.

Digital Way accounts for 22.4 percent of U.S. market and 37.2 percent of the Canadian market, dominating the market for MP3 players in both countries. In 2003, the company exported U.S.$34 million of players to the United States.

Korean MP3 player producers have been successful in part thanks to the great popularity of the Internet in Korea since the late 1990s. As the exchange of music over the Internet and email gained popularity, the demand for small portable audio equipment dramatically increased. In Japan, where the Internet has been comparably less popular, companies have overlooked the growth potential of MP3 players and have been following Korean companies in the world market.

Korean producers shouldn¡¯t get too cocky, however: Chinese competitors are following close behind, with an edge in price competitiveness. Sony has also stepped up its development of MP3 players. Yang Deok-jun, the president of Reigncom, said that domestic companies should now prepare for another chance to leap forward.