The iPhone sold over 1 million units in a matter of days and all the so called experts were amazed because they didn’t think a 3rd generation product in a depressed economy could create this kind of demand. But when you live in a consumer culture, everyone should realize that when you offer a desirably or necessary product at a reasonable price, there will always be a market for it.

Apple knows they will never have the sales volumes of the PC, so they don’t try and compete on price in those arenas. Instead they focus on greater feature sets that reaches a loyal and more finicky clientele at a slightly higher price to offset volume through greater margin. Yet in the mobile phone sector, they have combined a rich feature set with a lower cost to appeal to an even broader consumer base which has obviously worked based on the sales.

At Vinpower Digital, we have taken similar steps in our sales and development process. As a true manufacturer as apposed to just a system integrator, with our fingers on the pulse of the industry, we focus on a greater array of features which better resonate with the end users as apposed to just trying to undercut others through lower pricing. Don’t get me wrong, we understand the hard times we’re facing and the value of the dollar, so our products are competitively priced, but we aren’t satisfied with being a me too product.

So when someone says the market is dead and sales have dried up, maybe they should review what it is they are offering and determine if it’s the market or the product. Vinpower Digital is not unscathed by the economic crisis that has adversely affected the whole world, but I do think we have faired better than many in this industry because we offer the consumer a better choice in a variety of products. When someone needs a duplicator or accessory product, they have many choices, but in the end they will choose the products that best fit their needs and can grow with them, that’s what Vinpower Digital offers and why we have been successful in our industry.

We’ve reached the century mark. I know this is not a big deal in the constant and quick pace blog and Twitter world, but it means something to those of us who continue to post entries and hopefully raise awareness through our blogs. TV shows always celebrate when they have filmed their 100th episode and it’s a huge accomplishment when people reach this milestone, so it’s only fitting we celebrate it as well. I want to take the time to thank everyone who has ever read the Vinpower Digital blog and all those who have contributed to it. Here’s to another 100 entries which I hope can reach and enlighten many more people.

COMPUTEX TAIPEI has become the largest computer exhibition trade show in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany. Key global businesses come to Computex every year to launch their new products or discover new or more cost effective products to sell.

We have exhibited at COMPUTEX for a few years now, but this time our booth was located in a prime position inside the Nangang Hall, which is the primary hall with the most traffic. With that, Vinpower Digital greatly increased our visibility of existing and new products to a great number of buyers from around the world. We showcased numerous products including our Tower series of SharkCopiers duplicators (from CD/DVD to BluRay as well as the LightScribe capable versions), our autoloader series (which are all also available as CD/DVD, BluRay and LightScribe capable versions), our new flash media duplicator (for USB, SD/Compact Flash, and hard drive models) among other key duplication related products we offer.

As a leading manufacturer and distributor of duplication system and complementary items, we provide the total solution from discs, to duplicators, to disc printers (either inkjet or thermal printers). Whatever your duplication needs, we have the product to complete the job!

Recently, one of the fastest growing methods for distributing content is through flash memory which is most commonly recognized as USB pen drives or SD/Compact Flash cards. Recognizing the growth and potential for this market, Vinpower Digital has developed our own line of flash copiers like the USB Shark duplicator with many useful features, such as the Smart Copy function.

In addition, Vinpower Digital will introduce a new function for our DVD duplicator line to include a specialized copy protection application using our CPS technology. To demonstrate the applications playback capability, we played a video of the recent movie trailers. It was an instant hit as many people stopped by to watch it. With the non-stop camera clicks and flashes, it was easy to see how popular our booth was with the Computex attendees.

We also showcased the next level in standalone duplication towers, the network capable SharkNet. These systems can be connected to an internal network using standard LAN/Ethernet connections so that an entire office has the benefit of sending their image files and/or LightScribe print files to the duplicator to be copied.

Overall it was a successful trade show and we would like to thank all of those previous and potential future customers who visited our booth. Because of your support, we are excited to continue to make new and improved products well into the future! Voice your idea, Vinpower Listens; we work with your needs in mind.

I’ve written about the rapid adoption of Blu-ray before, but as prices continue to drop for all aspects of Blu-ray devices from recording to playback, it’s really on the rise now. In fact a study shows that first quarter 2009 Blu-ray player sales has already surpassed Q1 2008 by a whopping 72% with over 400,000 units sold, even in a down economy.

The rapid infusion of Blu-ray players is primarily attributed to the influx of HDTV capable TVs, video cameras, recording equipment, Sony’s Playstation 3, duplicators, BD-R media, etc. as well as the rapid decrease in pricing for all of these items. The price of Blu-ray players has dropped an astounding 34% in that same time period. With the decreases in prices for Hi-Def related products needed to produce or view these large format video, it’s the perfect environment for this format to thrive and expand.

In my opinion, the downturn in the global economy played a large part for the rapid decline in pricing. As most everyone knows, most electronics are made in China, Taiwan, or Korea. Even Japanese products are made in these locations with strict adherence to the Japanese company’s standards and parts. In order to keep prices low, those production facilities need to offset costs through volume. So when supply exceeds demand, the manufacturers can only do two things, reduce production or lower prices. Decreasing production would raise costs on material further increasing the price, so their only option is to lower pricing.

When customer confidence is at a record low, then consumers are far more frugal when it comes to their purchases. But even at our lowest point, there is still significant commerce taking place and those that can navigate the market and price their products appropriately can not only survive but thrive in these times. Hence, Blu-ray becomes cheaper and more consumers feel the upgrade to Hi-Def is worth the added expense (now that it’s overall cheaper) which catapults Blu-ray sales. Then as the economy improves, the price reductions will slow to a normal attrition but the pricing will already have reached that magical point where consumer’s feel the product is a bargain and worth purchasing.

Below are a few pictures showing the presentation made as discussed in the previous blog from May 22, 2009 titled “CompUSA Blurring the Lines between Brick and Mortar and Online Retail Shopping”. These images further show the emphasis the company has put into their new direction of personal interaction with online assistance: