Hardware Bistro

Today we are so proud to meet Mr. Scott Chen; VP, APAC Region of Kingston Technology Company Inc and have a short e-interview with him. Below are some discussions with Mr. Scott Chen.

Hardware Bistro: Kingston has been in the market quite some time ago; we would like to say long time ago as Kingston is one of the pioneers in memory industry and can we know what is the secret or key factor that Kingston is holding which make Kingston so successful all these while since it is not easy to find out the balance point between cost, quality and time to market.

Scott: The key drivers include employees, venders, and customers. The excellent product quality is contributed by the dedicated employees. The long-term and close relationship with our venders ensures the stable supply of products and high-rated components. Furthermore, the close relationship with our channel partners helps to distribute our products to the market in time as well as competitive pricing for end-users.

Since founded in 1987, Kingston has been committed to quality, viewing customers as top priority. We can not say that Kingston is successful now and what we are doing now is to well service the market. The market changes very fast, so we always adjust our directions to keep pace with market trends and market demands. 

Hardware Bistro: As we know due to economic regression, many companies (especially semiconductor sector) have started their backup plans and are there any similar plans for Kingston like VSS, merging the manufacturing or etc to reduce the operating cost to keep Kingston competitive enough?

Scott: Yes, the global economic recession is a tough time for everyone. The fully support from our employees, venders, and customers lets Kingston being competitive and not to suffer too much from the recession. However, during the global economic crisis, there's an impressive growth in some emerging regions such as China and India, in terms of market share. As far as cost cutting, we are always very conscious about efficiency, so we are constantly reviewing costs. This is ongoing, regardless of the economic situation.

Hardware Bistro: Besides that we and our readers would like to enquire will Kingston expands its line of business further like start to offer new products such as power supply, cooler or any other new devices; just like other memory makers.

Scott: We just launched our first SSD product this year. I don't think we will enter other sectors, presenting other new product lines in the near future. We will focus on memory products, because we are sure that our capability can bring our consumers the best and pleasant experience.

Hardware Bistro: Kingston has been quite active partnering with other partners for quite number of big events and what are the ongoing or incoming projects that Kingston is taking part? And what kind of sponsorship that Kingston will put on first priorities; gaming, lan party, or other community welfare?

Scott: With long term relationship with leading brands such as Intel, we have keep launching advanced-technology memory products as well as big events around APAC region. Currently, we are partnering with some music companies and movie firms. For example, we just launched the Wolverine-edition memory products, which have received overwhelming responses from the market. This is to bring different and new experience for end-users. To Kingston, we will try every event or campaign that our customers like.

Hardware Bistro: One more last question if you don't mind which regarding our environment. Recently there are more and more companies are focusing on greener environment and we would like to know is there any similar plan/action will be taken or already taken by Kingston?

Scott: In 2003, Kingston began the process of converting all of its products to be built in compliance with the RoHS Directive. Qualification of RoHS-compliant components supplied by Kingston's vendors and the implementation of new manufacturing processes related to this Directive was undertaken in 2004 and 2005. We are trying to do more for the environment. Kingston launched its low profile modules in 2008 for the commitment to the society.

Hardware Bistro: Thanks Scott for explaining all these to us. We wish Kingston will continue succeed in the future and bring more interesting & great products to us.

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Biography of Mr. Scott Chen
VP, APAC Region of Kingston Technology Company Inc.

Mr. Scott Chen, current Vice President, Asia Pacific Region, Kingston Technology, entered Kingston Technology Company Inc. in 1991.

Beginning his career in R&D, and manufacturing in the United States, Mr. Chen later moved into the Sales Division where he was the sales for the Nordic Business. In 1997, Mr. Chen moved into the APAC Business Development unit. In 2000, he was promoted to Director, and in 2003, was promoted to Vice President.

Mr. Chen's strong leadership and business success in the memory module and digital media businesses are reflected in a variety of sales and marketing achievements. In 2001, the APAC Business Development Headquarters was established in Hsinchu Taiwan where he continued to reside. Since this time, sales revenue and the customer base have grown exponentially, most particularly from 2004 to 2008 where sales revenue in APAC region increased more than 60%.