• Where: Irvine
• 12-month sales: $20.2 million
• Two-year growth: 896%
• OC workers: 64
• Business: Designer, seller of accessories for mobile phones, music players, other devices
Irvine’s Incipio Technologies is seeing its mobile device cases and accessories on a lot more store shelves lately.
Incipio, which started in 1999, makes protective cases for iPhones, iPods, iPads, BlackBerrys, other smartphones, laptops and handheld devices. It also makes an assortment of chargers, cables and battery packs.
“A year ago, we were in a quarter of the retail accounts that we are in this year,” founder and Chief Executive Andy Fathollahi said. “We’ve grown into an extra 15,000 retail stores this year.”
The company ranked No. 5 on the Business Journal’s 2010 list of fast-growing private companies with 896% sales growth for the two years through June, according to a Business Journal estimate.
For the 12 months ended June, Incipio had estimated sales of $20.2 million, up from $2 million for the same period in 2008.
New retail customers include heavyweights Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co., Staples Inc., Office Max Inc. and Office Depot Inc.
Incipio also recently struck a deal to have its cases sold in specialty electronics stores in about 45 of the country’s biggest airports.
Other sales come from the Web, distributors and wireless retailers, including the stores of AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, part of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG.
Incipio is big on marketing to a young, hip crowd. A lot of its marketing is via social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
“We are very involved in social media,” Fathollahi said. “We believe in it. We think it’s important for the future of the business. It gets younger users who are passionate about our products.”
The company tends to attract younger buyers because its products sell for a couple of dollars less than competitors, Fathollahi said. Incipio’s “no questions asked” return policy also is a selling point, he said.
“The price point is the No. 1 reason,” he said. “We have a lifetime warranty. And, as for exchanges, we are really easygoing about them.”
Incipio’s best-selling product is its iPhone case, which comes in a variety of colors and textures.
The company is trying out a separate website dedicated to selling iPad and iPhone accessories. The site is formatted so that it’s easy to view, surf and shop for accessories for the gadgets.
A new item that’s generated some buzz lately is the Linq, a case and strap for the newest touchscreen iPod nano that can convert into a wristwatch when displaying the device’s clock feature.
The Linq started shipping this month and sells for $25. Buyers can swap out the brightly colored watchbands, which go for $10 a pop.
Incipio is gearing for the holidays by stocking up on cases for iPads and electronic reader cases, which are expected to be this season’s hot tech gift.
Next year, the company is looking to launch a lineup of backpacks, laptop cases and protective sleeves.
“Our customers have been asking us to get into that space,” Fathollahi said. “We will be moving aggressively on that.”
The move is set to bring Incipio in closer competition with other local companies that make laptop cases and related accessories, including Targus Inc. and Mobile Edge LLC, both of Anaheim.
Fathollahi said he started the company when he was 25 and was at a “what am I going to do with my life?” crossroads.
At the time, he was out of college and unsure about his future. A painter working on his parent’s house talked to him about starting a business.
“If you were going to start a business, what would you do?” the painter asked.
Fathollahi thought about the question for a few minutes. His answer: making mobile phone cases out of backpack material.
Armed with a business license, his grandmother’s sewing machine and a $500 loan from his parents, Fathollahi started Incipio out of his family’s Orange County garage.
He heads product development and describes himself as hands-on with product design.
The company “does a lot of research” to stay on top of trends, Fathollahi said.
Incipio’s designers seek inspiration from action sports and motocross, he said.
The design work is done in Irvine. Engineering is done in Hong Kong with manufacturing done elsewhere in Asia.
