Coby Electronics Corporation
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| Coby Electronics Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Maspeth, NY |
| Key people | Lee Young Dong, Legal Representative/CEO |
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Products | Audio and video electronics |
| Employees | 4,000 to 4,499[1] |
| Website | http://www.cobyusa.com/, http://www.globalmarket.com/coby, http://www.ecoby.com |
Coby Electronics Corporation is a manufacturer of consumer electronics products headquartered in Maspeth, New York with offices and factories around the world (including the United States, Mexico, and China). With the joint efforts of Coby Electronics Co. of Hong Kong and Coby Electronics Corp. of the United States the products have reached consumers in Asia, North America, South America and Europe[2], however the company mostly sells in Europe and the United States. Coby also serves as an OEM manufacturer for brands including Samsung, NEC, Daewoo, RadioShack's Presidian brand and Hyundai.
Since the establishment of a new factory and new manufacturing processes in early 2006, the company has very publicly sought to re-brand itself as a maker of higher-quality goods, however they are still currently in the more low-priced budget.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Products
Coby's products can be found on many online retailer sites, such as Amazon.com. They are not as consistently found in major electronics stores in the United States, but are often available at discount stores, dollar stores, and drug stores. Coby competes mostly with other low budget-focused brands, such as jWIN, GPX, and loss-leader store bands.
[edit] Popularity
Coby's products are popular to those on a budget due to their low cost. To reach low price points, however, the quality of Coby merchandise is usually well-below products made by higher cost brands such as Sony, Panasonic and Philips. Notably, they're one of the last electronics firms to offer a line of cassette portables for export to the American market, though all the models are very rudimentary.
[edit] Recalls
Coby recalled several products in 2007. In April, 15,000 MP-CD475 boomboxes were recalled because of their potential to overheat and possibly catch fire. They recalled their TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 portable video/music players in November after three of the products overheated and one caught fire.[4]
Coby offered a full-refund to all consumers in both cases.
[edit] Company names
This company also does business under the name of Coby Electronics Inc.[1] and Foshan Coby Electronics Corporation.[5]
[edit] Domain name
In 2006, Coby Electronics Corporation unsuccessfully attempted to use the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy to acquire the coby.com domain from Coby O'Brien, an individual who first registered it in 1996. This is commonly referred to as reverse domain hijacking. Mr. O'Brien successfully defended his ownership of the domain. Coby Electronics Corporation uses cobyusa.com instead.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b COBY Electronics Co., Ltd. Company Profile. GlobalMarket.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ Coby: An Ever-thriving AV Giant. GlobalMarket.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ Marriott, Michel (2006-04-05). A Maker of $14.99 TV's Aims for Higher Ground. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ Guilfoil, John (2007-11-10). Coby Electronics recalls portable units. Blast Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ China Export-Enabled Manufacturer. GlobalMarket.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ Coby Electronics Corporation v Coby Co.. Domain Statute (2006-06-20). Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
