Speck Products

Speck Products
Subsidiary of Samsonite
Industry Consumer Electronics
Founded 2001
Headquarters San Mateo, California
Website www.speckproducts.com

Speck Products is a subsidiary of Samsonite based in San Mateo, California. The company makes protective cases for portable electronic devices including iPad, iPhone, MacBook, Android devices, Windows Phone devices, tablets and eReaders. Speck claims to make cases that are both functional and fun to carry.

The company is noted[1][2][3][4] for its CandyShell cases for smartphones and tablets, SeeThru MacBook cases and iGuy standing case.

History

Speck was founded in 2001 by Ryan Mongan, David Law and Tony Lillios as an offshoot of Speck Design.

In 2006, Irene Baran joined Speck as CEO. Prior to Speck, Baran was COO of Monster Cable Products for 16 years. She is a member of the Women in CE Hall of Fame.[5]

In May 2014, Samsonite purchased Speck Products for $85 million from VMG Partners. [6]

Products

All of Speck's products are designed by an in-house design group. The company is known for making functional cases such as the SmartFlex Card phone case[7] and the HandyShell tablet case.[8]

Other Speck cases include its CandyShell line, PixelSkin HD and FabShell for smartphones; FitFolio and SmartShell for tablets and eReaders; and SeeThru and SmartShell lines for MacBook.

Speck's most recent product line is its Presidio cases for smartphones and laptops. First introduced for the iPhone 7 in 2016, the line has expanded to include most popular smartphones from manufacturers such as Apple, Google, Huawei, LG and Samsung in addition to MacBook laptops. The Presidio cases are designed to be 20 percent thinner than the previous CandyShell line, while offering 52 percent more shock absorbency using Speck's Impactium shock-absorbing material.[9]

In the U.S., Speck's products are sold at Best Buy, Target, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Toys R Us and other retailers. They were formerly sold in Apple Store locations worldwide. Speck opened a retail store in 2011 in Palo Alto, California. All of the company's products are on display there, as it is a laboratory for the company.[9] Daniel Terdiman, "In Silicon Valley, a retail store as product laboratory," CNET, 18 August 2011</ref> The store has been shut down as of 2015.

Patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Speck a patent for the co-molded design used in their CandyShell cases.[10] The company was also awarded a patent for a case enclosing an electronic device and a card, as used in their SmartFlex Card and CandyShell Card cases.[11]

Awards

  • Speck was featured on the Inc. 5000 fastest growing private companies list in 2006,[12] 2007[13] and 2008,[14] and has been ranked as high as #41.
  • Speck cases were chosen as iLounge's iPhone Case of the Year in 2009 (CandyShell for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G),[15] 2010 (PixelSkin HD for iPhone 4),[16] 2011 (CandyShell Flip for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4)[17] and 2012 (CandyShell Flip for iPhone 5).[18]
  • CandyShell Wrap for iPad 2 was named iLounge iPad Case of the Year for 2011.[17] This case was also selected as an International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards Nominee.
  • SpeckProducts.com was named as a Webby Awards 2012 Honoree in the Best Practices category.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Gregory Schmidt, "Sweet Options for the iPhone 5," nytimes.com, 24 October 2012
  2. ↑ Alice Truong, "Rapid Review: 5 Popular MacBook Air Cases," Forbes.com, 3 December 2012
  3. ↑ Nick Guy, "Speck iGuy Standing Cover for iPad + iPad 2, iLounge, 2011 June 30
  4. ↑ Jackie Dove, "Four Speck cases for the iPhone 5," Macworld, 22 February 2013
  5. ↑ Business Wire article
  6. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/samsonite-enters-market-for-protective-mobile-device-cases-with-acquisition-of-us-based-company-speck-products-2014-05-29/
  7. ↑ Alice Truong, "Searching for the Best iPhone Wallet Case? Speck's Got It," Forbes.com, 15 August 2012
  8. ↑ Eugene Kim, "Speck HandyShell (for iPad 2 and New iPad)," PCMag.com, 27 July 2012
  9. 1 2 David Carnoy, "Speck Presidio Series cases for iPhone 7: Slimmer design, more protective," CNET, 7 September 2016
  10. ↑ "One piece co-formed exterior hard shell case with an elastomeric liner for mobile electronic devices," USPTO Patent Full-text and Image Database, retrieved 18 March 2013
  11. ↑ "Case for enclosing a personal electronic device and a card," USPTO Patent Full-text and Image Database, retrieved 18 March 2013
  12. ↑ Inc., "2006 Inc. 5000 List," retrieved 3/12/2013
  13. ↑ Inc., "2007 Inc. 5000 List," retrieved 3/12/2013
  14. ↑ Inc., "2008 Inc. 5000 List," retrieved 3/12/2013
  15. ↑ iLounge, "The iLounge 2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide"
  16. ↑ iLounge, "2011 iLounge iPod iPhone iPad Buyers' Guide"
  17. 1 2 iLounge, "2012 iPhone + iPod Buyers' Guide"
  18. ↑ iLounge, "2013 iPhone + iPod Buyers' Guide"
  19. ↑ 2012 Webby Award Honorees
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