Mpio Explained

MPIO Co., Ltd.
Native Name:엠피오
Native Name Lang:ko
Former Name:DigitalWay Co., Ltd.
Industry:Portable music players
Defunct:2008 (changed into Innoblue Industries)
Founder:Woo Jung-ku
Hq Location:Jeongja-dong Bundang-Gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Divisions:
  • DigitalWay Inc. (USA)
  • mpio-PEROS GmbH (Germany)[1]
  • DigitalWay Shanghai Co, Ltd. (China)

MPIO or Mpio (Hangul: 엠피오) was a South Korean consumer electronics brand and company. Established in 1998 by Woo Jung-Ku, it was one of Korea's early manufacturers of MP3 players and was known for producing portable digital audio players, media players and CD players capable of decoding MP3 data files on CDs. Previously, the company was known as DigitalWay Co., Ltd.

History

The company, originally as DigitalWay, was created as an OEM developer for large corporations - its first client was Samsung and the first product from their contract, a Samsung-branded MP3 player, debuted at the 1999 Consumer Electronics Show. In 2000, the company launched its own brand, Mpio, which eventually would become the name of the company. By 2002 it held 20% of the worldwide DAP market, including 15% in Europe and North America and 30% in Japan. The vast majority of its sales came from its own Mpio brand rather than through contracts of other firms. Mpio was noticeably better known outside of South Korea itself.[2] [3]

In Japan, Mpio players were sold by Adtec Co., Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of DigitalWay. In 2005, Mpio Japan Co., Ltd. was formed as a successor business.[4]

In September 2004 DigitalWay merged with a company called Yes Com Co., Ltd. and registered on the KOSDAQ exchange. MPIO became the name of the new company.[5]

Mpio's first jukebox player was the HD-100 in 2004 with a 20 GB hard disk, aiming to capture sales away from the iPod and iriver H300 series.[3] Half of its sales that year were from North America. However, its situation in the market deteriorated in 2005. Unlike iriver which could depend on domestic sales for survival, 90% of Mpio's revenue came from outside South Korea.[3] The company posted a net loss of 21 billion won ($21.7 million) in 2005.[6] In April 2006, founder and CEO Woo Jung-ku sold 8% out of 15% of his personal shares in the company to SW Net, a company specialising in jewellery.[7] Then, Jung-Ku now as an employee, was dismissed from the company and was replaced by SW NET's president Kang Shin-woo.[3]

On November 10, 2006, Shin-woo and other members of the company's board of directors were accused in Korean media of embezzlement, as much as 9.8 billion won.[8] [3] This was followed by resignations and the bankruptcy of one of its subsidiaries.[9] Chung Myung-an held a temporary CEO position until it was filled by Kim Jeong-ho. The company announced its entry in the biodiesel business[10] and entered the development of ozone-free halogen light bulb development. In August 2007, MPIO announced that CEO Jeong-ho embezzled 9 million won, 134% of MPIO's equity capital.[11]

In 2008 the company had renamed itself Innoblue Co., no longer in the MP3 business, and it is now involved mainly in pollution reduction equipment.[12] [13]

Products

Product list of MPIO:[3]

MP3 players

2000[14]
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008

MP3 CD players

Others

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jong Weon Seo, Schwarzenfeld - früher Geschäftsführer der mpio-PEROS GMBH .
  2. Web site: Mp3P '메이드 인 코리아'의 위력! 엠피오 . 18 October 2004 .
  3. Web site: История Mpio . Dorozhin . Alexey . 19 December 2006 . 19 April 2022 . ru . History of Mpio.
  4. Web site: プレスリリース ： 株式会社アドテック . www.adtec.co.jp . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051104012613/https://www.adtec.co.jp/pressrelease/2005/051018/index.html . 4 November 2005 . dead.
  5. Web site: Digital Stylist for Digital Generation: FL300, Very Small in Size- FG100 Looks Like Stereo Speakers . October 2004 .
  6. Web site: A flood of cheap iPods hits local music makers . 21 March 2006 .
  7. Web site: 코스닥 M&A '관성의 법칙'? . 16 October 2006 .
  8. Web site: 강신우 엠피오 대표 98억 횡령…이사직 사임 . 13 November 2006 .
  9. Web site: 엠피오, 갖은 악재로 추락..우회상장에 '경종' . 17 November 2006 .
  10. Web site: [기자수첩]코스닥과 모럴해저드 . 14 November 2006 .
  11. Web site: '죽었다 살아난' 엠피오 또 Ceo 횡령 '얼룩' . 13 August 2007 .
  12. Web site: (주)이노블루 2022년 기업정보 | 사원수 15명, 근무환경, 복리후생 등 기업정보 제공 .
  13. Web site: 코스닥 '이번엔 녹색개명' 열풍? . 14 September 2008 .
  14. Web site: Home . digiway.en.ec21.com.
  15. Web site: Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice . www.mpio.net . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030417110518/http://www.mpio.net/dmg.htm . 17 April 2003 . dead.
  16. Web site: Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice . www.mpio.net . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030218215157/http://www.mpio.net/dmb.htm . 18 February 2003 . dead.
  17. Web site: Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice . www.mpio.net . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030218213607/http://www.mpio.net/dme.htm . 18 February 2003 . dead.
  18. Web site: Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice . www.mpio.net . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030417110758/http://www.mpio.net/dmk.htm . 17 April 2003 . dead.
  19. Web site: MPIO-DMK Preview . 8 December 2001 .
  20. Web site: MPIO's PD100 - Teaser Preview . 27 September 2005 .
  21. Web site: Mpio to present its 9.2mm-thick metal mp3 player 'MG100' . 21 February 2007 .
  22. Web site: Mobile-review.com MP3-плееры – новинки февраля-марта 2007 года. mobile-review.com.
  23. Web site: MPIO ML300 - Back to basic | the MP3 Players . www.themp3players.com . 15 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070708235221/http://www.themp3players.com/archives/2007/07/mpio-ml300-back-to-basic/ . 8 July 2007 . dead.
  24. Web site: MPIO's MG300 portable media player gets official .
  25. Web site: Home Media Player Mpio PlayIt X3 리뷰!! - 최우수작 -. hds.ddns.co.kr.
  26. Web site: MPIO 1.5GB USB Storage Drive . 19 November 2003 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mpio".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.