The journey into portable audio land is not without danger for a hifi protagonist and the boundaries may not be as clearly defined. With a relevant corporate image in place already, it becomes more delicate to open up completely new categories and play to new audiences without endangering a company’s existing image and reputation. Of course it is always less risky to start from nowhere and enter the market with a good marketing strategy. The fact that iPods sell by the millions with poor quality headsets definitely offered opportunities to enterprising headphones companies and particularly newcomers. The headphones market has been largely opened up by Apple Inc. SkullCandy’s stunning example shows clearly how to take market shares from established headphones brands via a dedicated niche strategy. To become a newcomer to the headphone business should neither be easy nor impossible. Now NuForce is exploring what for them are new categories - media players and more surprisingly perhaps, headphones.

The Milpitas company began with amplification devices and enjoyed an enthusiastic response also for the small Icon and Mini Icon class D integrateds. The context: NuForce recently decided to diversify its commercial offerings into portable gear while taking into consideration new trends in the audio market. Source: iTunes & iMac Osx 10.5.7 + Trends USB UD-10.1 lite,

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