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Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA)
April 18, 2014 Friday
'SMALL FISH' HAS GLOBAL VISION: Spokane company aims to tap
large-scale market for tablet computers
by Tom Sowa
Using the Internet and workers on three continents, a Spokane company
is trying to take a bite out of the computer tablet market dominated
by giants like Samsung and Apple.
Minno Tablets, with an office in Spokane's University District, is
part of a growing breed of companies that rely on teams around the
worldto make and sell their products.
Officially launched this year, Minno's sales and support office has
two workers in Spokane and several more at other U.S. locations.
Like most tech firms, it draws on Chinese manufacturers to produce the
tablet components, which are then assembled and configured by a
six-person staff in Yerevan, Armenia.
Minno evolved from the business collaboration of brothers Eric and
Chris Ryan, who founded a Spokane Valley toy production company,
Noodle Head. The toy business was an early entrant locally to the
Chinese manufacturing market.
But as that market diminished, the brothers pivoted toward producing
affordable tablet computers. If big companies like Apple dominate the
consumer market, there are dozens of companies like Minno competing to
sell affordable devices to businesses or specialty markets like
education.
"Personal mobile technology is certainly a growing market, and this is
especially true in emerging economies around the world," said Chris
Ryan.
Their company name is a variation of "minnow" - the small fish found
in schools. That's because education has been Minno's initial market
focus. It's also looking for inroads with government agencies and
businesses.
Earlier this year Minno received an order for 2,000 tablets from the
Armenian minister of education. The country, sandwiched between Turkey
and Azerbaijan, intends to buy up to 40,000 more tablets for schools
over the next three years, Ryan said.
Thousands of companies around the world areusing the far-flung business model.
Business schools have conducted research on the trend, finding that
advances in technology offset infrequent one-to-one meetings.
"Most companies today use lots of different forms of virtual," said
Ann Majchrzak, who teaches at the Marshall School of Business at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "You can't do
business today without it," she said.
Chris Ryan said Minno's strategy is to keep tablet prices low and sell in bulk.
"We're not trying to sell in the consumer market" or compete with the
iPad or the Samsung or Microsoft tablets, Ryan said.
Minno is pricing its tablets at roughly half what consumer tablets cost.
"That way we're a two-for-one proposition. You can get a Minno 10-inch
tablet for $249, compared with about $599 for the same-size iPad,"
Ryan said.
His brother, Eric Ryan, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., helped develop
Minno's connections to the tech sector in Armenia, which for years has
been called the Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union.
Minno is just one of hundreds of tech firms now using Armenia's pool
of talent, he said.
"It has a low wage scale but also a highly educated population," he
said. "It has a lot of smart and well-trained workers available."
The Armenian government has gone beyond ordering Minno's tablets. It's
helping launch a Minno operation in the capital of the country to
produce the ArmTab.
That will be the locally produced tablet sold to schools and
businesses across Eastern Europe.
The goal is to increase capacity in Armenia to produce 100,000 tablets per year.
The brothers hold meetings by phone or Web conference once or twice a
week. They also do regular Skype calls with their colleagues in Asia
and in Armenia.
"On one hand, it is important to gather the team regularly on
conference calls to chart the strategic course," Chris Ryan said.
But not working in one building makes for more focused work, he added.
"We have less time in frequent drawn-out meetings, a chronic issue I
have experienced with larger, centralized organizations," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
April 18, 2014 Friday
'SMALL FISH' HAS GLOBAL VISION: Spokane company aims to tap
large-scale market for tablet computers
by Tom Sowa
Using the Internet and workers on three continents, a Spokane company
is trying to take a bite out of the computer tablet market dominated
by giants like Samsung and Apple.
Minno Tablets, with an office in Spokane's University District, is
part of a growing breed of companies that rely on teams around the
worldto make and sell their products.
Officially launched this year, Minno's sales and support office has
two workers in Spokane and several more at other U.S. locations.
Like most tech firms, it draws on Chinese manufacturers to produce the
tablet components, which are then assembled and configured by a
six-person staff in Yerevan, Armenia.
Minno evolved from the business collaboration of brothers Eric and
Chris Ryan, who founded a Spokane Valley toy production company,
Noodle Head. The toy business was an early entrant locally to the
Chinese manufacturing market.
But as that market diminished, the brothers pivoted toward producing
affordable tablet computers. If big companies like Apple dominate the
consumer market, there are dozens of companies like Minno competing to
sell affordable devices to businesses or specialty markets like
education.
"Personal mobile technology is certainly a growing market, and this is
especially true in emerging economies around the world," said Chris
Ryan.
Their company name is a variation of "minnow" - the small fish found
in schools. That's because education has been Minno's initial market
focus. It's also looking for inroads with government agencies and
businesses.
Earlier this year Minno received an order for 2,000 tablets from the
Armenian minister of education. The country, sandwiched between Turkey
and Azerbaijan, intends to buy up to 40,000 more tablets for schools
over the next three years, Ryan said.
Thousands of companies around the world areusing the far-flung business model.
Business schools have conducted research on the trend, finding that
advances in technology offset infrequent one-to-one meetings.
"Most companies today use lots of different forms of virtual," said
Ann Majchrzak, who teaches at the Marshall School of Business at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "You can't do
business today without it," she said.
Chris Ryan said Minno's strategy is to keep tablet prices low and sell in bulk.
"We're not trying to sell in the consumer market" or compete with the
iPad or the Samsung or Microsoft tablets, Ryan said.
Minno is pricing its tablets at roughly half what consumer tablets cost.
"That way we're a two-for-one proposition. You can get a Minno 10-inch
tablet for $249, compared with about $599 for the same-size iPad,"
Ryan said.
His brother, Eric Ryan, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., helped develop
Minno's connections to the tech sector in Armenia, which for years has
been called the Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union.
Minno is just one of hundreds of tech firms now using Armenia's pool
of talent, he said.
"It has a low wage scale but also a highly educated population," he
said. "It has a lot of smart and well-trained workers available."
The Armenian government has gone beyond ordering Minno's tablets. It's
helping launch a Minno operation in the capital of the country to
produce the ArmTab.
That will be the locally produced tablet sold to schools and
businesses across Eastern Europe.
The goal is to increase capacity in Armenia to produce 100,000 tablets per year.
The brothers hold meetings by phone or Web conference once or twice a
week. They also do regular Skype calls with their colleagues in Asia
and in Armenia.
"On one hand, it is important to gather the team regularly on
conference calls to chart the strategic course," Chris Ryan said.
But not working in one building makes for more focused work, he added.
"We have less time in frequent drawn-out meetings, a chronic issue I
have experienced with larger, centralized organizations," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress