Originating in Japan around eight years ago, “skinwraping” electronic gadgets such as cellphones, iPods and laptops to beautify and protect them has swept across Taiwan and other Asian countries. Now, a Taiwanese-Singaporean company is taking the trend one step further by establishing an international brand and production chain.
Two years ago, Taiwanese Clitt Chu (朱裕弘) took his expertise on coating materials to Singaporean Jeremy Lim, founder of the brand SkinJam, which has expanded to East Asia and the Middle East and Europe and has now set its sights on North and South America.
The concept is to coat high-tech gadgets in a thin protective film to make them scratch resistant and sweat resistant, using trendy designs that not only protect but beautify the electronic devices.
PHOTO: CNA
Chu said SkinJam’s dream is to introduce the brand to the world.
“Branding is so important in the global village that if we just focus on the Taiwan market we would be limiting ourselves,” Chu said.
“The countries we want to enter are those that are highly visible on the international stage,” he said.
SkinJam’s headquarters have moved from Singapore to Dubai — “the magnet for businessmen from around the world,” Chu said.
Although the company was launched during a global economic downturn, Chu indicated that he is optimistic about its prospects.
“The market is always there. The only question is how to find it,” he said, noting that the oil exporting countries are the least affected by the global economic slump.
Chu said SkinJam’s Dubai branches sell mobile phones decorated with real diamonds.
While Taiwaneses pay around NT$850 to skinwrap their mobile phones and NT$1,680 to wrap their laptops, in Dubai the price is three to four times higher, he said.
The firm has operations in Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey and Russia. It opened a London branch this month and will add a Brazil operation later this year, Chu said, adding that the expansion has been carefully researched.
Chu said the company has been able to expand so fast around the globe is because it studies, localizes, strategizes and enhances the personalized gadget market for a new generation.
“We always tell our employees, ‘You are making creations rather than products,’ and a sense of achievement is what makes the difference,” he said.
While there is no shortage of skinwrap choices in Taiwan, SkinJam offers a service that is different from others, Chu said.
“Uniqueness and distinctiveness are what we strive to achieve,” Chu said. “Our products have individuality and a sense of design because they are custom-made.”
Chu said that unlike other companies in Taiwan, SkinJam offers much more than just protection for electronic devices.
“Apart from providing protection, our service includes beautifying gadgets and conveying a sense of caring and satisfaction,” he said.
Rather than downloading patterns from the Internet, the company hires three designers to create unique designs. Similarly, the coating material is made by means of a green production process, using very little lead or cadmium. This method is now being patented in Dubai, Chu said.
Skinjam offers other specialty services such as long lasting color printing, enhanced thin and clear surfacing that blends with all gadgets, skinwrap film that lasts a minimum of five years with care, and removal of skinwrap material without damaging the devices.
Customers can also “bling” their gadgets by covering them with genuine Swarovski crystals, Chu said.
Working with Studio A, the first Apple-accredited premium reseller in Taiwan, SkinJam has its own exhibition and working booth in the Studio A store. Chu said the two companies formed an alliance because they have the same high quality and positive brand image.
SkinJam also works with telecom and food companies to custom-design their products and is planning to tap into the do-it-yourself market by launching ready-to-apply packages for online sale.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) forecast that its wafer shipments this quarter would grow up to 7 percent sequentially and the factory utilization rate would rise to 75 percent, indicating that customers did not alter their ordering behavior due to the US President Donald Trump’s capricious US tariff policies. However, the uncertainty about US tariffs has weighed on the chipmaker’s business visibility for the second half of this year, UMC chief financial officer Liu Chi-tung (劉啟東) said at an online earnings conference yesterday. “Although the escalating trade tensions and global tariff policies have increased uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, we have not
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS