Belkin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses see Belkin (disambiguation).
| Belkin International, Inc. | |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983 |
| Headquarters | Compton, California |
| Key people | Chet Pipkin, Founder, President and CEO |
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Products | Computer hardware |
| Revenue | unknown |
| Employees | unknown |
| Website | www.belkin.com |
Belkin International, Inc. is a global manufacturer of computer hardware which specializes in connectivity devices. Belkin sells primarily in the consumer and home user market, but they also make switches, hubs (USB and computer network), cables, UPSs, and other peripherals. The company was founded in 1983 in Hawthorne, California by current President Chet Pipkin, and it has twice made the Inc. Magazine list of 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. At present, Belkin is headquartered in Compton, California. It is the largest and most well-known employer in that city.
The name "BELKIN" was formed from taking the last three (3) letters of Chet Pipkin's name and the first three (3) letters of co-founder Steve Bellow's last name.
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[edit] Wireless networking
Belkin is a large provider of wireless LAN equipment. In January 2005, the company launched one of the first MIMO routers under the name pre-N to some acclaim [1].
In 2003 Belkin released a home-use wireless router which would occasionally replace users' HTTP requests with an advertisement for Belkin's filtering software. Belkin received some intense criticism for this ([2] [3] [4] [5] [6]) from customers who described it as a man-in-the-middle attack or a form of session hijacking. Belkin initially treated this as a public relations problem rather than a technical problem, but later relented and removed this feature from its products.
For users upgrading to Vista, be sure to check for drivers from Belkin before purchasing any products from them. As of this writing, they are not developing many drivers for some of their older products, such as the very popular Nostromo SpeedPad n52.
[edit] Other products
Belkin's product mix includes award-winning innovations for easy-to-set-up networking solutions, accessories for iPod® players and XM player devices, and the first CableFree USB Hub. The PureAV® brand, a line of cables, power, and digital wireless accessories, extracts the full performance potential from high-end home theater equipment, while offering elegant designs and advanced features. Since 2002, Belkin has been one of the most successful makers of accessories for the Apple iPod. In 2003, Belkin introduced the Nostromo SpeedPad n52, a hybrid keyboard/joypad peripheral. At CES in January 2006, Belkin announced that it would launch the first commercially-available ultrawideband product, called CableFree USB [7].
[edit] Awards & Recognition
Belkin has come a long way to become the market leader across its product lines in just over two decades. From a garage in Hawthorne, California, with two employees and sales of $100,000 for the year, Belkin has become one of the fastest growing companies in its industry, with over 1,000 employees and sales topping $1 billion worldwide. In addition to earning Inc. magazine's 2003 Hall of Fame award, Belkin has been listed twice in its list of "500 Fastest-Growing Privately held Companies in the U.S.", the "Inner City Top 100" list for six consecutive years, and the Los Angeles Business Journal's "Fastest Growing Private Companies" list for five years. Belkin products have also garnered numerous accolades and praise from various media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNET, Popular Science, GQ, and New York Times.
