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.

MPIO Co., Ltd.
Native name
엠피오
FormerlyDigitalWay Co., Ltd.
KRX: 066200
IndustryPortable music players
Founded1998 (1998)
FounderWoo Jung-ku
Defunct2008 (changed into Innoblue Industries)
HeadquartersJeongja-dong Bundang-Gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Divisions
  • DigitalWay Inc. (USA)
  • mpio-PEROS GmbH (Germany)[1]
  • DigitalWay Shanghai Co, Ltd. (China)
Websitewww.mpio.co.kr

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.[2] In 2000, the company launched its own brand, Mpio, which eventually would become the name of the company.[2] 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.[2] Mpio was noticeably better known outside of South Korea itself.[3][2]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[2] 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.[2] The company posted a net loss of 21 billion won ($21.7 million) in 2005.[6] 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.[7] Then, Jung-Ku now as an employee, was dismissed from the company and was replaced by SW NET's president Kang Shin-woo.[2]

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.[8][2] This was followed by resignations and the bankruptcy of one of its subsidiaries.[9] Chung Myung-an held a temporary CEO position until it was filled by Kim Jeong-ho.[10] The company announced its entry in the biodiesel business[11] and entered the development of ozone-free halogen light bulb development.[10] In August 2007, MPIO announced that CEO Jeong-ho embezzled 9 million won, 134% of MPIO's equity capital.[10]

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.[12][13]

Products
Mpio FL100 MP3 player (2003)

Product list of MPIO:[2]

MP3 players
2000[14]
  • MP10, Mpio's first player originally as OEM then under its own brand, rectangular shaped
  • DMU10, rectangular shaped
  • DMV10, rectangular shaped
  • EX-MP, square shaped
  • DMY10, square shaped
  • DMJ10, square shaped
2001
  • DMG, square shaped playe, 32/64/128 MB memory, with a SmartMedia slot plus built-in microphone for recording and WMA playback support.[15] Also sold as the Odyssey 200 and 300 by licensee e.Digital.
  • DMB, rectangle shaped player, 32/64/128 MB memory, with a SmartMedia slot for extra 128 MB expansion[16]
2002
  • DMG Plus, update of DMG
  • DMB Plus, update of DMB with additional FM radio recording and a line-in
  • DME, smaller variant of DMG/DMB. Also sold as the Odyssey 100 by licensee e.Digital.[17]
  • DMK, small keychain style player, 64/128 MB[18][19]
2003
  • FD100, square shaped player that was popular[2]
  • FL100, rectangular player that was popular[2]
  • FY100, "sporty" player
  • HD100, Mpio's first jukebox and hard drive player, 20 GB memory
2004
  • FY200, white coloured player that continued the DMK's design, a successful model.
  • FY300, primitive designed with USB stick. Also sold under the name Stormblue Xuke MP-500.[2]
  • FL200, medallion style. Also sold under the name Beadsounds EMP-Z.[2]
  • FG100
  • FL300, update of FL200, medallion style
  • FY400, update of FY300.
  • HD300, jukebox, 20/40 GB memory.
  • HD200, microdrive player, 5 GB.
2005
  • FG200 (One), high-end flash player with colour display
  • FY600, small budget-oriented player
  • FY500/FY500SE, small budget-oriented player
  • FL350, medallion update of FL300
  • PD100, player that can also pick up DAB radio and record from it alongside FM[20]
  • i-Bulldog, budget sub-brand
2006
  • HD400 (SOLID), microdrive player, 8 GB.
  • FL400 (QUARTZ), medallion player
  • FY700, budget player
  • FY800, 1/2/4 GB flash player with SD card slot for expansion
  • FL500, medallion style player
2007
  • MG100, 9.2 mm thick player[21]
  • ML100, renamed from FY900[22]
  • ML300[23]
  • MG300, 2/4/8 GB PMP[24]
2008
  • FY1000, 2/4/8 GB PMP
  • FY500SE
  • PD100

MP3 CD players
  • CMG
  • CL100
  • CL200

Others
  • Playit X3 (HRP250 / HRP160), Home Media Player[25]
  • HS100 / HS200, USB storage devices[26]
  • DC100, digital camera (for use with DMG and DMB music players)[2]

References
  1. "Jong Weon Seo, Schwarzenfeld - früher Geschäftsführer der mpio-PEROS GMBH".
  2. Dorozhin, Alexey (19 December 2006). "История Mpio" [History of Mpio] (in Russian). Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. "Mp3P '메이드 인 코리아'의 위력! 엠피오". 18 October 2004.
  4. "プレスリリース ： 株式会社アドテック". www.adtec.co.jp. Archived from the original on 4 November 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  5. "Digital Stylist for Digital Generation: FL300, Very Small in Size- FG100 Looks Like Stereo Speakers". October 2004.
  6. "A flood of cheap iPods hits local music makers". 21 March 2006.
  7. "코스닥 M&A '관성의 법칙'?". 16 October 2006.
  8. "강신우 엠피오 대표 98억 횡령…이사직 사임". 13 November 2006.
  9. "엠피오, 갖은 악재로 추락..우회상장에 '경종'". 17 November 2006.
  10. "'죽었다 살아난' 엠피오 또 Ceo 횡령 '얼룩'". 13 August 2007.
  11. "[기자수첩]코스닥과 모럴해저드". 14 November 2006.
  12. "(주)이노블루 2022년 기업정보 | 사원수 15명, 근무환경, 복리후생 등 기업정보 제공".
  13. "코스닥 '이번엔 녹색개명' 열풍?". 14 September 2008.
  14. "Home". digiway.en.ec21.com.
  15. "Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice". www.mpio.net. Archived from the original on 17 April 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  16. "Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice". www.mpio.net. Archived from the original on 18 February 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  17. "Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice". www.mpio.net. Archived from the original on 18 February 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  18. "Mpio.net - Definitive mpio Advice". www.mpio.net. Archived from the original on 17 April 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  19. "MPIO-DMK Preview". 8 December 2001.
  20. "MPIO's PD100 - Teaser Preview". 27 September 2005.
  21. "Mpio to present its 9.2mm-thick metal mp3 player 'MG100'". 21 February 2007.
  22. "Mobile-review.com MP3-плееры – новинки февраля-марта 2007 года". mobile-review.com.
  23. "MPIO ML300 - Back to basic | the MP3 Players". www.themp3players.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  24. "MPIO's MG300 portable media player gets official".
  25. "Home Media Player Mpio PlayIt X3 리뷰!! - 최우수작 -". hds.ddns.co.kr.
  26. "MPIO 1.5GB USB Storage Drive". 19 November 2003.
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