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I didn't think highly of the name, Flu. But will the Flucard take off?
INTERVIEW-Trek 2000 eyes new memory card for sales boost
http://sg.rd.yahoo.com/partners/reuters/SIG=112kft22t/*http://www.online.reuters.com/
<CITE>Reuters - <ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9">Tuesday, November 9</ABBR></CITE>
<CITE><ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9"></ABBR></CITE>
<CITE><ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9">By Charmian Kok
SINGAPORE, Nov 9 - Trek 2000 International <TRKL.SI>, the creator of the "ThumbDrive", hopes its new memory card will become a mainstay for digital cameras and boost its revenue by up to 40 percent in 2011 from $68 million last year.
Singapore-based Trek 2000 earlier this year unveiled the "FluCard", which captures, stores and shares data like the Secure Digital card. Unlike SD cards, the new device also allows users to upload data wirelessly to a server or to other devices.
To ensure the FluCard will be widely used by electronics makers, Trek is teaming up with 18 percent shareholder Toshiba <6502.T>, a big player in the SD card space, to help market and sell the device.
Trek 2000 plans to make FluCard compatible with other electronic devices such as printers and televisions to widen its appeal, said Henn Tan, Trek's chairman and CEO.
"If everything works out right , we hope to see 30 to 40 percent additional sales on top of our existing business," Tan told Reuters in an interview.
He said he expects FluCard to start contributing significantly to Trek 2000's revenue from the first half of next year.
Trek had a revenue of $68.3 million in 2009, down 36.5 percent from a year earlier. For the same period, its net profit rose 79 percent to $700,000 due to better cost controls and higher gross profit margins.
Tan said the firm will roll out the second generation of the FluCard in the first quarter of next year, which will be more user-friendly and have a higher transfer speed.
Trek 2000 began selling one of the first few USB flash drives in 2000 under the brand "ThumbDrive", but lost out to bigger players like Kingston and SanDisk despite holding various patents related to the portable USB memory device.
This time, it hopes it will do better with its invention by enlisting the help of Toshiba. The Japanese firm will lead a consortium consisting mainly of Japanese camera makers to support the distribution of FluCard and oversee its intellectual property protection.
Currently, the FluCard is sold under the Trek 2000 brand, but Toshiba may start selling the product under its own brand as soon as the end of next year, Tan said.
Eventually, the bulk of FluCard sales would be via Toshiba, which would pay the Singapore firm licensing fees and royalties.
Between them, Toshiba and Trek 2000 target to sell 5-7 million pieces of FluCards next year, 13 million in 2012 and about 28 million the year after, Tan said.
By 2013, Toshiba expects to replace 25-30 percent of the SD card market with the FluCard, he added.
"If everything works out, the FluCard can easily contribute about 50 percent of our revenues by 2013," said Tan.
Each 8 gigabyte FluCard retails for S$119 now, but Tan said he expects the price to fall by about 30 percent every year through greater efficiencies in the manufacturing process, with Trek 2000 maintaining gross profit margin of 20 to 25 percent.
Trek 2000 shares, which were flat at S$0.44 on Monday, have more than doubled since the start of the year.
</ABBR></CITE>
INTERVIEW-Trek 2000 eyes new memory card for sales boost
http://sg.rd.yahoo.com/partners/reuters/SIG=112kft22t/*http://www.online.reuters.com/
<CITE>Reuters - <ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9">Tuesday, November 9</ABBR></CITE>
<CITE><ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9"></ABBR></CITE>
<CITE><ABBR class=timedate title="Tuesday, November 9">By Charmian Kok
SINGAPORE, Nov 9 - Trek 2000 International <TRKL.SI>, the creator of the "ThumbDrive", hopes its new memory card will become a mainstay for digital cameras and boost its revenue by up to 40 percent in 2011 from $68 million last year.
Singapore-based Trek 2000 earlier this year unveiled the "FluCard", which captures, stores and shares data like the Secure Digital card. Unlike SD cards, the new device also allows users to upload data wirelessly to a server or to other devices.
To ensure the FluCard will be widely used by electronics makers, Trek is teaming up with 18 percent shareholder Toshiba <6502.T>, a big player in the SD card space, to help market and sell the device.
Trek 2000 plans to make FluCard compatible with other electronic devices such as printers and televisions to widen its appeal, said Henn Tan, Trek's chairman and CEO.
"If everything works out right , we hope to see 30 to 40 percent additional sales on top of our existing business," Tan told Reuters in an interview.
He said he expects FluCard to start contributing significantly to Trek 2000's revenue from the first half of next year.
Trek had a revenue of $68.3 million in 2009, down 36.5 percent from a year earlier. For the same period, its net profit rose 79 percent to $700,000 due to better cost controls and higher gross profit margins.
Tan said the firm will roll out the second generation of the FluCard in the first quarter of next year, which will be more user-friendly and have a higher transfer speed.
Trek 2000 began selling one of the first few USB flash drives in 2000 under the brand "ThumbDrive", but lost out to bigger players like Kingston and SanDisk despite holding various patents related to the portable USB memory device.
This time, it hopes it will do better with its invention by enlisting the help of Toshiba. The Japanese firm will lead a consortium consisting mainly of Japanese camera makers to support the distribution of FluCard and oversee its intellectual property protection.
Currently, the FluCard is sold under the Trek 2000 brand, but Toshiba may start selling the product under its own brand as soon as the end of next year, Tan said.
Eventually, the bulk of FluCard sales would be via Toshiba, which would pay the Singapore firm licensing fees and royalties.
Between them, Toshiba and Trek 2000 target to sell 5-7 million pieces of FluCards next year, 13 million in 2012 and about 28 million the year after, Tan said.
By 2013, Toshiba expects to replace 25-30 percent of the SD card market with the FluCard, he added.
"If everything works out, the FluCard can easily contribute about 50 percent of our revenues by 2013," said Tan.
Each 8 gigabyte FluCard retails for S$119 now, but Tan said he expects the price to fall by about 30 percent every year through greater efficiencies in the manufacturing process, with Trek 2000 maintaining gross profit margin of 20 to 25 percent.
Trek 2000 shares, which were flat at S$0.44 on Monday, have more than doubled since the start of the year.
</ABBR></CITE>
