Kingston Technology Inc. is running one of its largest product tests to date.
The Fountain Valley-based company is collecting reviews and feedback from potential customers around the globe as it assesses the launch of a wireless reader. The device allows users to share and stream music, movies, photos and view documents from iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices.
Kingston initiated the beta test for MobileLite Wireless last month in Las Vegas at the International Consumer Electronics Show, handing out some 700 units to industry bloggers, reviewers and industry experts.
“This might have been the first time on such a large scale,” said Kingston spokesperson David Leong.
Kingston garnered plenty of attention at CES during a preshow launch event at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and a mixer it held at a Ceasar’s Palace ballroom, where tech enthusiasts and gamers eagerly awaited samples of the product.
Interested Consumers
The push for the wireless reader counted on keeping select members of the crowd of 150,000 or so interested well after the show wrapped up its four-day run.
“We knew they were interested in our industry, so we can get real world feedback,” said Craig Tilmont, business manager for MobileLite Wireless. “It may help us open new markets and find new opportunity for this product.”
Kingston is the world’s largest memory products maker for computers and consumer electronics, with an estimated $5.8 billion in annual sales.
Its ability to swiftly react to market shifts and customer feedback has helped it maintain its leadership position in the ultracompetitive storage segment.
Tilmont has been busy the last month gathering responses from online surveys, social media and email campaigns.
They’re eventually sent to the company’s research group in Fountain Valley, which recommend what should stay or be nixed in the next version of the product.
Then the recommendations go to engineers and various business groups for decisions on what new features might be added.
“It’s very quick—we’re talking within hours and sometime within days,” Tilmont said. “We’re very responsive.”
MobileLite Wireless is the next version of the wireless reader that debuted at CES two years ago under the company’s Wi-Drive brand. Kingston has analyzed feedback from customers since then to shape the initial design and functions of the MobileLite.
An example: Kingston added battery capacity to MobileLite based on requests from customers who said they wanted to be able to use it to charge other devices such as cell phones.
Quick Pace
The quick pace on incorporating customers’ comments comes as Kingston aims to get the MobileLite to market midyear.
It’s also wants to keep the price on par or below competing products from a crowded field of competitors such as Northern California-based Roku Inc. and Fountain Valley-based D-Link Corp., among others.
“We’re trying to get this under $50,” Tilmont said.
Kingston’s test highlights a long-held strategy that’s led to several product redesigns based on customer’s input over the years.
A decade ago Kingston introduced its first line of HyperX memory products geared for gamers, computer enthusiasts and system builders.
“They were ugly, and they were clunky,” said Dara Mullarkey, Kingston’s Specialty DRAM and HyperX business manager. “We totally listened to our gaming customers.”
Users liked the blue color scheme, but wanted to “push the edge,” so Kingston went back to the drawing board, concentrating on the look and feel of the product.
The feedback carried a broader lesson. Executives learned that Kingston’s gaming customers cared about packaging and internal design.
They began to showcase product boxes along with their systems at conventions and competitions.
Kingston also listened to suppliers, and tweaked some external designs of HyperX, such as adding a sleeker straight edge in blue and diamond cutting. In 2007 it introduced fins for looks and to dissipate heat.
Kingston has initiated similar changes on its USB drives as well, debuting dozens of styles to meet customer preference.
The designs include capped, rotating, retractable, swivel and encrypted versions, to name a few.
The company also takes feedback on a regional basis. Sometimes that leads to custom configurations for certain functions or features based on local preferences.
Some of it gets back to packaging—the company has released drives commemorating the Chinese New Year, World Cup, and the Latin American releases of Ice Age 4, Cars 2 and Toy Story 3.
“We’re trying to appeal to as many customer segments as we can,” Leong said.
