Huntington Beach-based olloclip has launched a new campaign on Kickstarter that builds upon its recent entree into the crowded smartphone case segment.
The company has already raised more than $88,000 from about 600 backers to bring the olloclip Studio system to the market. The product, which will cost about $170 at retail, combines a protective case that can withstand a 4-foot drop with integrated mounts and photography accessories, including a finger grip and two adapters that allow users to attach a microphone and a small light.
Olloclip in May released its first smartphone case, the ollocase, for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The case allows users to simply attach their favorite lens to take photos or shoot video.
The product, which costs about $30, put olloclip head-to-head against several local case makers, including Mophie Inc. in Tustin; Anaheim-based Targus Group International Inc.’s luxury brand Sena; and Irvine-based companies Incipio Technologies Inc., The Joy Factory and startup Peri Inc.
The $100,000 Kickstarter campaign, which ends July 31, marks a return to the crowdfunding site that launched olloclip four years ago.
Company founder Patrick O’Neill, a recipient of the Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award last year, and designer Chong Pak even shot the product video and messaging in O’Neill’s kitchen, the scene of the first campaign.
Olloclip, which employs more than 40, has sold more than a million removable and clip-on double-sided camera lenses for Android and Apple mobile devices in nearly 100 countries.
Some companies like olloclip have used Kickstarter for branding and marketing purposes as much as funding.
The PC Blues
Bad news for Irvine-based storage products maker Western Digital Corp., networking gear maker QLogic Corp. in Aliso Viejo, and other locals heavily tied to the declining PC industry.
Stamford, Conn.-based market tracker Gartner Inc. reported that worldwide PC shipments fell 9.5% to 68.4 million units in the second quarter compared to the same period a year earlier.
Analysts cited the rising cost of PCs in some foreign markets fueled by the escalating dollar, coupled with unusually strong desktop demand a year ago as support for Windows XP ended, and clearing of inventory ahead of the Windows 10 launch this quarter.
The drop marked the steepest yearly decline since the second quarter of 2013.
U.S. PC sales fell 5.8% to 15.1 million units, led by a double-digit decline in desktops that offset single-digit growth of mobile PCs.
Beijing-based Lenovo Group Ltd. held the top spot with a 19.7% market share, followed by Hewlett-Packard Co. in Palo Alto, at 17.4%, and Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. at 14%.
Iteris Wins $2.1M Contract
Santa Ana-based Iteris Inc. won a $2.1 million contract from the Orange County Transportation Authority for a traffic signal synchronization project on Bristol Street.
The company will design and implement traffic signal electronics and fiber-optic communications equipment, as well as synchronize all 45 traffic lights along an eight-mile stretch of the major thoroughfare, which crosses Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.
The stated goal of the project is to improve traffic flow and safety for vehicles, buses, bicycles and pedestrians.
