Cosmic counts on in-house technology
COSMIC Hitec Sdn Bhd, which specialises in manufacturing computerised entertainment equipment, is tapping on its new in-house animation technology to produce competitively priced products for the Asean market.
Managing director Datuk H’ng Ban Choon said in an interview that the company had studied carefully the various animation technologies used in China, Taiwan, and Japan for the past decade before developing its own products.
For the past 10 years, Cosmic was involved in assembling computerised entertainment equipment using foreign technology.
H'ng said that in the past six months, Cosmic's technical team had adapted certain key features of these technologies to develop its own in-house technology.
“We are able to modify the technologies to enable us to produce computerised entertainment equipment with user friendly and advanced features at a lower cost.
“Our animation technology enables us to develop computerised entertainment equipment with higher resolution images and advanced user-friendly features such as touch-screen display panels,” he said.
He added that due to the lower production cost, the company was able to price its computerised entertainment equipment competitively for the ASEAN market.
An imported computerised entertainment equipment from Taiwan cost around RM40,000 while the Cosmic branded equipment is priced at about RM10,000.
H’ng said the Asean region was a growing market for computerised entertainment products.
“The new emerging markets are Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. We will enter these markets soon,” he said.
H’ng added that presently, the mature markets included Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. “Our customers are mainly theme park operators in these countries,” he said.
Employing some 40 workers, Cosmic designs and develops its products at a 10,000-sq-ft facility located at Harbour Trade Centre, Penang.
H’ng said Cosmic also had the capability to design and develop customised products for its customers.
On its new products, he said the company had recently developed a vending machine equipped with attractive entertainment features that could sell newspapers, snacks and drinks.
“We will be exhibiting this new product next month at the GTI Asia Taipei Expo 2008, which is one of the key event for the promotion of computerised entertainment products in Asia,” he said.
H’ng said the company would soon market its capability to provide animation technology services overseas.
“Since we have the technological capabilities to develop our own products, we can also market our services to the movie industry, which is outsourcing its animation graphic projects,” he said.
H’ng, who also owns an aquaculture business, said he ventured into the computerised entertainment product business because Penang had the software expertise and experience in the electronics industry.
On Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s recent call to create an animation valley, H’ng said such a hub would definitely enhance the competitive edge of the animation and computerised entertainment equipment companies in the state.
Cosmic is one of the few local companies with the ability to design and develop computerised entertainment equipment using its own technology.