The gaming unit of Kingston Technology Inc. has hit another milestone in headset sales.
HyperX has shipped more than four million headsets since the brand introduced its first version in 2014.
The single accessory has grown into a $400 million business with sales rising at a fast rate.
Consider that HyperX crossed the 1 million mark in September 2016, roughly two years and four months since the headset’s launch. It took the brand only one year and five months to sell another 3 million units to topple the 4 million milestone.
“Going from being a gaming memory division of Kingston to becoming one of the top gaming headset vendors in this market in just a few years is incredible,” HyperX Corporate PR Manager Mark Tekunoff told the Business Journal.
Kingston is Orange County’s largest consumer electronics maker, with estimated 2017 revenue of $6.7 billion. HyperX at the CES show in January promoted several new products, including the HyperX Cloud Flight, its first wireless gaming headset.
Tekunoff credited the company’s design and quality teams in Taiwan and China for hitting the milestone, as well as marketing and business departments across the globe, and the crisp supply chain and logistics expertise of parent Kingston.
“The other aspect is our commitment to the gaming community for over 10 years, with activities at all levels, including teams, tournaments, events and gaming influencers,” he said.
HyperX has made big bets on the booming esports segment, growing its roster of “marketing influencers” to more than 30 organizations and 90 teams.
Late last year it signed its second sponsorship in the NBA in a deal with the Dallas Mavericks and its future NBA 2K League esports team, a first for the local unit. That followed a similar deal in October with the Philadelphia 76ers when it was named the franchise’s official headset partner.
It recently signed 76ers All-Star and fervent gamer Joel Embiid as its newest headset brand ambassador. The move completes a trifecta of sorts, as the unit also has a sponsorship deal with esports franchise Team Dignitas, which was acquired by the 76ers in 2016 and operates under the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment banner.
Chip Deal
Irvine-based chipmaker Cosemi Technologies Inc., which sold part of its business last year to Broadcom Ltd., has signed a distribution deal with WESCO International Inc.
Under the agreement, the Pittsburgh-based company will distribute Cosemi’s family of HDMI, DisplayPort 8K and USB optical cables through its international network.
The deal builds on a prior relationship with WESCO subsidiary Liberty AV Solutions, which is establishing ties with local distributors in regions where Cosemi has no presence.
WESCO posted revenue of $7.3 billion last year.
Cosemi sold its photodetector business about a year ago to Broadcom on undisclosed financial terms.
It agreed to buy some of Broadcom’s photodetector technology as part of the deal, and other components, such as lasers.
Cosemi retained its business lines for high-speed fiber optic components and active optical cables to provide connectivity, and planned to focus on the data center market with the products.
Coding Fun
Speaking of Broadcom, the Newport Beach-based Broadcom Foundation was scheduled to host a Raspberry Jam coding session this week at the Discovery Cube Orange County.
The Santa Ana event was one of more than 100 nationwide commemorating the sixth birthday of Raspberry Pi, an affordable minicomputer that teaches kids and adults to code in a fun way. It was developed by the U.K.-based Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote teaching of basic computer science in schools and developing countries.
The top 10 skills in demand last year, according to LinkedIn, were all computer related, including cloud computing, data mining and statistical analysis, and writing smartphone applications.
“Whether a girl or boy aspires to attend a college or university or work toward a career in business, entertainment, finance or a multitude of trades available in Orange County, coding is a critical skill to achieve success in today’s workforce,” foundation President Paula Golden said. “The Raspberry Jam helps kids of all ages and backgrounds understand that learning to code is actually a lot of fun.”
