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Wikipedia / Mpio

MPIO or Mpio (Hangul: 엠피오) was a South Korean consumer electronics brand and company. Established in 1998 by Woo Jung-Ku, it was one of Korea's early manufacturers of MP3 players and was known for producing portable digital audio players, media players and CD players capable of decoding MP3 data files on CDs. Previously, the company was known as DigitalWay Co., Ltd.

History

The company, originally as DigitalWay, was created as an OEM developer for large corporations - its first client was Samsung and the first product from their contract, a Samsung-branded MP3 player, debuted at the 1999 Consumer Electronics Show. In 2000, the company launched its own brand, Mpio, which eventually would become the name of the company. By 2002 it held 20% of the worldwide DAP market, including 15% in Europe and North America and 30% in Japan. The vast majority of its sales came from its own Mpio brand rather than through contracts of other firms. Mpio was noticeably better known outside of South Korea itself.

In Japan, Mpio players were sold by Adtec Co., Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of DigitalWay. In 2005, Mpio Japan Co., Ltd. was formed as a successor business.

In September 2004 DigitalWay merged with a company called Yes Com Co., Ltd. and registered on the KOSDAQ exchange. MPIO became the name of the new company.

Mpio's first jukebox player was the HD-100 in 2004 with a 20 GB hard disk, aiming to capture sales away from the iPod and iriver H300 series. Half of its sales that year were from North America. However, its situation in the market deteriorated in 2005. Unlike iriver which could depend on domestic sales for survival, 90% of Mpio's revenue came from outside South Korea. The company posted a net loss of 21 billion won ($21.7 million) in 2005. In April 2006, founder and CEO Woo Jung-ku sold 8% out of 15% of his personal shares in the company to SW Net, a company specialising in jewellery. Then, Jung-Ku now as an employee, was dismissed from the company and was replaced by SW NET's president Kang Shin-woo.

On November 10, 2006, Shin-woo and other members of the company's board of directors were accused in Korean media of embezzlement, as much as 9.8 billion won. This was followed by resignations and the bankruptcy of one of its subsidiaries. Chung Myung-an held a temporary CEO position until it was filled by Kim Jeong-ho. The company announced its entry in the biodiesel business and entered the development of ozone-free halogen light bulb development. In August 2007, MPIO announced that CEO Jeong-ho embezzled 9 million won, 134% of MPIO's equity capital.

In 2008 the company had renamed itself Innoblue Co., no longer in the MP3 business, and it is now involved mainly in pollution reduction equipment.

Products

Product list of MPIO:

MP3 players

  1. 2000

  2. MP10, Mpio's first player originally as OEM then under its own brand, rectangular shaped

  3. DMU10, rectangular shaped

  4. DMV10, rectangular shaped

  5. EX-MP, square shaped

  6. DMY10, square shaped

  7. DMJ10, square shaped

  8. 2001

  9. DMG, square shaped player, 32/64/128 MB memory, with a SmartMedia slot plus built-in microphone for recording and WMA playback support. Also sold as the Odyssey 200 and 300 by licensee e.Digital.

  10. DMB, rectangle shaped player, 32/64/128 MB memory, with a SmartMedia slot for extra 128 MB expansion

  11. 2002

  12. DMG Plus, update of DMG

  13. DMB Plus, update of DMB with additional FM radio recording and a line-in

  14. DME, smaller variant of DMG/DMB. Also sold as the Odyssey 100 by licensee e.Digital.

  15. DMK, small keychain style player, 64/128 MB

  16. 2003

  17. FD100, square shaped player that was popular

  18. FL100, rectangular player that was popular

  19. FY100, "sporty" player

  20. HD100, Mpio's first jukebox and hard drive player, 20 GB memory

  21. 2004

  22. FY200, white coloured player that continued the DMK's design, a successful model.

  23. FY300, primitive designed with USB stick. Also sold under the name Stormblue Xuke MP-500.

  24. FL200, medallion style. Also sold under the name Beadsounds EMP-Z.

  25. FG100

  26. FL300, update of FL200, medallion style

  27. FY400, update of FY300.

  28. HD300, jukebox, 20/40 GB memory.

  29. HD200, microdrive player, 5 GB.

  30. 2005

  31. FG200 (One), high-end flash player with colour display

  32. FY600, small budget-oriented player

  33. FY500/FY500SE, small budget-oriented player

  34. FL350, medallion update of FL300

  35. PD100, player that can also pick up DAB radio and record from it alongside FM

  36. i-Bulldog, budget sub-brand

  37. 2006

  38. HD400 (SOLID), microdrive player, 8 GB.

  39. FL400 (QUARTZ), medallion player

  40. FY700, budget player

  41. FY800, 1/2/4 GB flash player with SD card slot for expansion

  42. FL500, medallion style player

  43. 2007

  44. MG100, 9.2mm thick player

  45. ML100, renamed from FY900

  46. ML300

  47. MG300, 2/4/8 GB PMP

  48. 2008

  49. FY1000, 2/4/8 GB PMP

  50. FY500SE

  51. PD100

MP3 CD players

  • CMG

  • CL100

  • CL200

Others

  • Playit X3 (HRP250 / HRP160), Home Media Player

  • HS100 / HS200, USB storage devices

  • DC100, digital camera (for use with DMG and DMB music players)

References