Contract electronics manufacturers are not just about producing consumer electronics products such as notebook computers or smartphones from clients’ designs; it is also important that they are able to help clients design products that will do well in the market.
This explains why Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, yesterday launched its second generation of luxury iPhone cases under the Pegacasa brand name.
The Taiwanese firm said it is attempting to narrow the gap between consumers and its industrial designers.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
“Product launches give Pegatron’s designers a rare opportunity to leave the factory and receive instant feedback on what consumers really want,” Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) told reporters on the sidelines of a launch event at a Taipei department store.
Pegacasa is a brand produced by Pegatron’s industrial design department.
The team has 27 designers, led by design director Alain Lee (李政宜) — a trusted aide of Tung and the key designer of many of Pegatron’s successful projects, according to people familiar with Pegacasa.
The team’s priority is to stay close to the marketplace and cultivate the designers’ abilities, more than being a significant revenue-driver for Pegatron. Working on the team offers the designers opportunities to expand their skills as they design notebooks, smartphones, phone accessories or home appliances, the people said.
The Pegacasa-brand portfolio includes high-quality stationery, jewelry boxes and lamps made of a mixture of bamboo, wood and stainless steel, which Lee said serve to demonstrate to clients Pegatron’s ability to handle different materials with trendy designs that can meet market demand.
The team launched its first series of luxury iPhone cases in 2015, which were made from costly materials such as cowhide, python skins and ox horns, and were priced between NT$1,880 and NT$23,800.
Pegatron said it has worked to lower the price range of its second-generation series — the Slim Fit collection — to between NT$1,880 and NT$3,980 in a bid to expand its presence in the market.
The new series features stainless steel and cowhide, it said.
The first generation of Pegacasa’s iPhone cases reached the break-even point last year, Lee said.
The second generation is likely to reach the break-even point faster due to stricter cost controls and increasing familiarity in the manufacturing process, he said.
Pegacasa products are available in all Eslite Group (誠品集團) bookstores in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, Lee said, adding that as of last year, they are also available in Paris’ La Colette store.
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