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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| KOSDAQ:056000[1] | |
| Industry | Consumer electronics Computer software Online services Cell phone accessories |
| Founded | April 1995[1] |
| Founder | Park Namkyu Jung Jaewook |
| Headquarters | Seoul,South Korea[1] |
Area served | South Korea, United States, Japan, India |
Key people | Park Namkyu(president)[1] |
| Products | MP3 players PMP Software
Other products
|
| Services | Services list
|
| Revenue | KRW 121.2 billion (2010)[2] |
| KRW 9.1 billion (2010)[2] | |
| KRW 7.4 billion (2010)[2] | |
| Total assets | KRW 72.4 billion (2010)[2] |
Number of employees | 193[1] |
| Subsidiaries | JetAudio, Inc. LIAAIL idea & art |
| Website | COWONGLOBAL.com www eng |
Cowon Systems, Inc. (Korean: 코원시스템; simply known asCowon) is a South Koreanconsumer electronics andsoftware corporation. The company’s initial focus was software development andmicroelectronics, specializing inspeech synthesis andspeech recognition technology.[3] In 2000, with the introduction of theiAUDIO CW100, Cowon expanded into theportable media player industry, which is now the core of their business.[3]
In 2010, Cowon was ranked number one in the PMP category of Japanese Management Association Consultants’ Global Customer Satisfaction Competency Index, and in 2011, it was ranked number one in the same organization’s Global & Great Brand Competency Index.[4][5]
In the west, Cowon is most well known for itsiAUDIO range of portable media players, which has resulted in many people incorrectly referring to the company as “Cowon iAUDIO” or simply “iAUDIO.” Outside the domestic market, Cowon iAUDIO's sales and market share have always been minuscule - however, it gained a certain niche market and retains a loyal following from fans and enthusiasts.[6][7]
In its marketing, Cowon distinguishes between "MP3 players" and "portable media players," where the latter are larger and have a greater focus on video playback. The categories differ slightly between the Korean and the global homepage.
All Cowon products are produced domestically in South Korea.
Cowon’s LIAAIL division, founded in 2011, focuses on personal audio and cell phone accessories. Among its products can be found:
Each Cowon player is equipped with a set of software sound enhancement technologies collectively referred to asJetEffect. The latest version of JetEffect, JetEffect 5, was introduced with the release of theCowon Z2 Plenue.
JetEffect competes with products such asSony'sDSEE,Samsung'sDNSe, and theSRS technologies found in products byiriver andSamsung and in products byHTC andHP, where they are branded as "Beats Audio".
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In its latest iteration, JetEffect contains the following sound effects and enhancements:
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JetVD is an Androidapplication for downloading videos fromYouTube in a wide selection of formats. It was first introduced to users of theCowon D3 Plenue with the upgrade tofirmware version x.55. An online version of JetVD, calledJetToy, exists inbeta stage.
Other software developed by Cowon includes theiAUDIO LDB Manager, a small application for tagging music files withtimecoded lyrics displayable on Cowon media players as well as inJetAudio.
Cowon also offers a number of freeware utilities, includingJetCast,JetMailMonitor andJetToolBar. All of the above are available for free download from the JetAudio website.[8]
Cowon’sultra-mobile PCs W2 and W2 SSD come with JetToolbar pre-installed.[9]
