Small But Strong Small Businesses

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Korea is ranked third in the number of firms participating, but has grabbed a lot of the attention.

Korean firms including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have set up big booths in the main hall, unlike their counterparts from second-place Canada. Accordingly, visitors say Korean companies have raised eyebrows at the show.

Also gaining attention are Korea’s small- and medium-size firms, whose cutting-edge technologies and creative designs have kept up with those of large firms by winning best innovation awards.

Emtrace Technologies’ portable electronic photo frame ‘Photoskins’ has earned a CES Best of Innovations award for personal electronics devices. The award is given to only one firm in the category.

E Detail has won an Innovation Award with its tablet PC, which has a double-sided touch screen on which users can type letters.

Korea’s middle-level IT firms, which are also trying to expand their overseas market share, have seen good performances at the show.

Mp3 player maker Reigncom through this year’s show has secured distribution channels and reopened its business in the U.S., which had been suspended since 2006.

Posdata, founded by the nation’s biggest steel maker POSCO, has drawn attention after demonstrating its portable Internet gaming device G100 at the booth of U.S. mobile communications firm Sprint Nextel.

In an effort to enter the U.S. market, leading Korean audio equipment maker Inkel has released its own “docking system” combining WiFi phone and docking station. Users can download the latest learning and music content with WiFi technology.

nex@donga.com