| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Lake Success, New York |
| Key people | Lee Young Dong, Legal Representative/CEO |
| Products | Home and Portable A/V Consumer Electronics |
| Revenue | $300 million USD |
| Employees | 2,000 |
| Website | http://www.cobyusa.com/, http://www.globalmarket.com/coby, http://www.ecoby.com |
Coby Electronics Corporation is a manufacturer of consumer electronics products headquartered in Lake Success, New York, with offices and factories around the world (including the United States, Mexico, and China). With the joint efforts of Coby Electronics Co. of Hong Kong and Coby Electronics Corp. of the United States the products have reached consumers in Asia, North America, South America and Europe;[1] however, the company mostly sells in Europe and the United States. Coby also serves as an OEM manufacturer for brands including Samsung, NEC, Daewoo, RadioShack's Presidian brand and Hyundai.
It was founded by Young Dong Lee who owns 100 percent of its capital stock. Its name comes from deleting the "w" and second "o" in Cowboy.[2] The logo style looks similar to the serif font used in the Sony Logo. Lee (born 1955 in South Korea) originally owned an electronics wholesaler called Cowboy.[3]
The company's original headquarters was in an industrial area of Maspeth, Queens. In 2008 it moved the world headquarters to Lake Success, New York. The former headquarters remains as a company warehouse.[4]
Since the establishment of a new factory and new manufacturing processes in early 2006, the company has very publicly sought to re-brand itself as a maker of higher-quality goods; they tend, however, to be in the low-price range.[5] Its main factory is on 400 acres (1.6 km2) in Jiangxi Province in China. It was designed to accommodate up to 5,000 employees.[3]
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Coby products span home and portable audio and video electronics plus accessories. Leading categories include MP3 with video, Netbooks, portable DVD players, digital picture frames as well as flat panel LCD televisions and surround-sound home theater systems. Available in metropolitan, regional and metropolitan brick and mortar storefronts or via the Internet, Coby's products can be found in a wide range of locations.
Coby voluntarily conducted four product recalls in the past three years, on 10/22/2009, 10/8/2008, 11/8/2007 and on 4/18/2007.[6] In all instances, Coby provided full refunds to all consumers. Some consumers have reported issues with the MP822-4G, and Coby has made available a downloadable "fix" on its website, at http://www.cobyusa.com/?p=fix_mp822.
This company also does business under the name of Coby Electronics Inc.[7] and Foshan Coby Electronics Corporation.[8]
In 2006, Coby Electronics Corporation unsuccessfully attempted to use the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy to acquire the coby.com domain from Coby O'Brien, an individual who first registered it in 1996. This is commonly referred to as reverse domain hijacking. O'Brien successfully defended his ownership of the domain. Coby Electronics Corporation uses cobyusa.com instead.[9]