SIGNALS

When we think of audio companies, images of tall buildings, rows of cubicles, and loading docks usually come to mind. And it’s true that many audio companies are still like that. But a more contemporary image of an audio company would be you in your pajamas. You see, technology manufacturing isn’t what it used to be.

I’ve been aware of the new paradigm for quite a while, but an article in Bloomberg Business News really brought things into focus. Titled “Start Your Own Smartphone Company for $1,000,” and authored by Tim Culpan, it describes how that small sum can let you compete against Apple and Samsung. In particular, you can have a smartphone custom-made for $20, with a minimum order of 50 units. Then you have a shot at becoming the next Steve Jobs.

As founder and CEO of [Your Name Here] Corporation, you would contact any number of Chinese companies that can source the components that constitute a smartphone, then assemble the parts, and ship the product to you. Just tell them what toppings you want on your pizza, um, phone, and they do the rest. The plastic case, screen, camera, boards, battery, and Android operating system (free!) all joined into a working phone bearing your company’s name, can be in your hands in six weeks.

Your company can dispense with niceties like research scientists, software, and hardware engineers, quality control people, retail stores, and much of the other traditional corporate layers. Can such a business model actually succeed? You bet it can. From humble origins, companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus are major players in the global smartphone market.

I am regularly contacted by Chinese companies eager to design and build audio products to my specification.

Smartphones are bona fide audio products, but what about other audio devices? Surely that market follows more traditional business models. Well, of course, many of the familiar names in audio are still around, offering splendid products. But some of the most exciting products are coming from unknown startups that use the new outsourcing model.

I am regularly contacted by Chinese companies eager to design and build audio products to my specification. For example, I just received an invitation to the Loudspeaker Sourcing Show, held in Nansha, PRC. As their materials advise, and as its name implies, “The Loudspeaker Sourcing Show is a one-stop shop to source all loudspeaker components, drivers, or complete system needs. The show will be peppered with driver and complete turnkey factories both large and small. There will also be amplifier and headphone manufacturers. This is the sourcing show to attend.”

I can pick out my cones, surrounds, spiders, cabinets, and all the other loudspeaker hardware. Also on hand will be packaging and shipping companies and Chinese/English translators ready to work for me and even a Chinese law firm that can answer any legal questions. Last but not least, the show will conclude with a poolside party and a ’70s and ’80s cover band.

That’s just crazy, you say. A person would have to be nuts to start an audio company. Well, people probably said the same thing to Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, Amar Bose, John Bowers and Ray Wilkins, Ray Dolby, Leo Fender, Sidney Harman, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, Henry Kloss, James Lansing, Akio Morita, Frederick and Gerard Philips, Fritz Sennheiser, and Sidney Shure. In fact, with Chinese outsourcing, never in history has it been easier to start an audio company. Indeed, your biggest obstacle is the fact that it’s so easy to start a company, and that is inspiring many entrepreneurs to give it a try.

Ken’s Audio Corporation, Inc. Hmm, that has a nice ring to it.