You know the saying, “stop to smell the roses”? Well at Vinpower, we encourage our employees, friends and family to take some time to experience and enjoy the world around you. As an environmentally friendly company where we focus on recycling and reducing waste, the Earth and the sky above is extremely important to us. So it pleases me to showcase some of our employees and their hobbies that branch out and enlighten us as to how vast the world and universe is beyond our homes and work place. Enjoy the professionally taken photos from one of our valued Vinpower Digital employees:

Vinpower gazes at the Milky Way from Hehuanshan, Joy Mountain (11,207 ft), located in Central Taiwan. Hehuanshan is located within the Taroko Gorge National Park, one of the seven nationals park in Taiwan.

Day view

Night view

The constellations of stars make up the two zodiac sign noticeable in this captured shot: Scorpio and Sagittarius. Across Sagittarius, you will notice the nebulae around the stars.

Below are images of the production of our duplication controller boards.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, we design and program our own controller boards. Every circuit, ic chip, solenoid, connection, etc plays an important role in the proper operation for our controllers and gives them the edge over the competition.

When most customers purchase a duplicator, they probably assume they’re all the same and that the operating system behind the standalone duplicator is generally the same as well. That’s where I want to correct this misconception. The standalone duplicator is unique in that it requires a special dedicated controller device that is small enough to fit within the confines of a duplicator casing, yet is inexpensive enough to allow the duplicator to be priced affordably for the general public. With these limitations, one cannot take a standard computer motherboard and just adapt it to the duplicators needs. Firstly it’s not a dedicated device, secondly it’s too large for most of the medium to smaller systems and lastly the cost of the components and software is prohibitive given the pricing constraints.

So every controller on the market has to be specially programmed by engineers to achieve perfect burning capabilities without errors. In itself this is not difficult if you’re a skilled computer programmer, but the difficult part lies in programming these many functions and applications within a very limited capacity. I won’t get into the specifics, but just know that our programmers are constantly working to squeeze the maximum capabilities within the confines of their space limitations.

Programming is only one part of the controller development. The second major development hurdle is the board layout design and component configurations. You can have the best programmers in the world, but if the board layout and circuit components are not designed and utilized correctly, the controller will not be worth the code written on it. Being the only controller manufacturer that is also a system builder and designer, we have unique insight that helps us produce a stronger and more reliable controller both in software and hardware.

The World Witnessed a Brilliant Moment in Taiwan History.

For the very first time in Taiwan’s history, we hosted a world sporting event in the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung hosted by Kaohsiung City. There are nearly 5,000 athletes and coaches from over 103 countries that participated in the World Games 2009.

Although these athletes come from different countries and speak different languages, they all share a common World Games spirits, which are peace, friendship and cooperation.
The Chinese Taipei team grabbed 8 Gold Medals, 9 Silver medals and 7 Bronze Medals in several games such as “BODYBUILDING”, “JU-JITSU”,”ROLLER SPORTS SPEED”, “TUG OF WAR INDOOR” and “KORFBALL”

The host city- Kaohsiung designed a variety of fine arts as gifts. People can buy them as souvenirs at shops, hotel boutiques or at the department stores.

We found one of the gift designs matched almost exactly the gift that Vinpower Digital delivered to our valued customers at Computex 2009. We designed a gift that shows our sincere nature and represents the sprit of Vinpower Digital – Integration. With its elegant feature, we also included the graphic of Vinpower’s unique products like the SharkCopier and The CUBE to make this gift stand out more.

World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung lasted until July 26, and even with the games over, Kaohsiung City welcomes nationwide tourists to visit the site of this splendid and once-in-a-lifetime event!

The total solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 appeared at approx 9:00~10:00am Taiwan time today. Chinese mythology refers to a solar eclipse as the “celestial dog” which is thought to eat the sun during an eclipse. Since this is not a common event, it was a great opportunity and bonding experience for members of our Taiwan office to marvel in this amazing occurrence.

Contact phase observation taken by our very own professional photographer, Jerry Fu

This is not the best way to take a solar eclipse picture, best to leave it to the professionals!

Another example of what not to do during a solar eclipse. Do not look directly at the sun during an eclipse, even when it looks as though there’s minimum exposure. It is just as dangerous as looking directly at the sun itself during a normal day. Self-made solar filters using floppy disk removed from its case, a Compact Disc, a black color slide film, etc. must be avoided at all costs. Hey girls! That’s incorrect.

All the smiles during the eclipse, a great way to show off a magical day!

Recently we held a training seminar over 2 days for a couple of our international distributors at our USA corporate office. This seminar was intended to train the technical support staff from these companies so that they can be better prepared to handle any and all tech support calls they receive in their region. It was an overwhelming success and everyone involved was pleased with the schedule and outcome. Due to the positive feedback we have decided to make the training seminars regular occurrence, so whether a company is foreign or domestic, we will provide training so that everyone can provide top notch technical support.

The above photos show how involved the training seminar was as the participants participated in building up our equipment from a bare system. That way they will gain more intimate knowledge with the product and how to support them.

Of course we didn’t want our guests getting bored focusing only on duplicators, so we added in some social events. That way we can balance the body, mind and spirit so that each participant will have a better understanding of our products and of who the people are that support them from our side.

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.