Kim Apollo held the FBI’s heart with a walkie-talkie (translated by Google Translate)
The recent conflicts in the Middle East have caused this 2011 article to attract attention and discussion. However, according to the statement of Golden Apollo on September 18, 2024, Golden Apollo only provides brand trademark authorization for the model involved, and production and sales are through the Hungarian partner BAC Consulting. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs also stated that there is no record of Golden Apollo being directly exported to Lebanon. The models exported from Taiwan are equipped with AA batteries and there is no possibility of explosions causing casualties.
World Magazine Issue 477
Release time: 2011-07-27Golden Apollo sells walkie-talkies that are almost extinct in Taiwan, but its professional technology, customization and strict quality control have helped it win orders from European and American governments, ranking first in the United States and second in Europe.
Pagers and walkie-talkies have not been seen by many people for a long time. They were products that were eliminated several generations ago. Many major manufacturers have even listed them as antiques and put them in exhibition rooms. However, there are manufacturers in Taiwan that continue to work intensively, making the pager number one in the United States and second in Europe. Even the FBI is its customer, and its gross profit margin is not inferior to that of HTC and MediaTek.
Golden Apollo, located in Xizhi, was a domestic pager manufacturer in its early days. When it was established in 1995, BB Call was very popular in Taiwan. Unexpectedly, just four years later, Chunghwa Telecom announced that it would no longer release pager phone numbers, and the market fell to zero in an instant.
This was the biggest crisis since the establishment of Golden Apollo. The founder and chairman Xu Qingguang decided to shift the market overseas at that time. “Because only overseas markets exist,” Xu Qingguang smiled bitterly.
Xu Qingguang, who originally specialized in the domestic market, discovered the demand in foreign markets when he went to participate in overseas exhibitions and found niche products purchased by foreign governments.
In fact, Golden Apollo’s market development is almost entirely through cooperation with overseas agents, and it has repeatedly won cases from the FBI in the United States and fire bureaus in European countries.
Like many colleagues in the industry, Xu Qingguang jumped in when he saw something hot, but later he discovered that seeking speed was not his specialty, but seeking perfection was.
In the past few years, he did not follow other people’s example and saw the popularity of GPS and driving recorders, so he developed and invested indiscriminately. Xu Qingguang decided to stick to the field of customized walkie-talkies. To achieve customization, everything from production mode, material preparation, to turnover must be adjusted.
Because customer needs vary, for example, each country and each unit has different spectrums and requires different materials. Xu Qingguang gradually increased the company’s capital from 5 million to 100 million to solve the company’s financial problems.
Golden Apollo takes the road less traveled by. Because it does not focus on standardized products, unlike many of its peers who set up factories in China, they later encountered problems such as overcapacity or failure to collect the final payment. Golden Apollo chose to stay in Taiwan and cooperate with foundries.
In addition to outsourcing production and assembly, Golden Apollo is responsible for receiving orders, designing, purchasing raw materials, and then conducting quality control and shipping.
Stick to the market that will never disappear
It may be hard to imagine in Taiwan that there is still a market of 20 million pagers and walkie-talkies around the world every year, which is about the same as the sales of iPhones in one quarter.
Currently, Golden Apollo accounts for more than 99% of the market in the Netherlands, 60% in the United States, and more than 70% in Australia.
Demand is mainly concentrated in intelligence, firefighting, national defense and other units in Europe and the United States. Because when a disaster strikes, mobile phone base stations are often either blocked or malfunctioning. At this time, wireless walkie-talkies are the most stable choice.
Another feature of the walkie-talkie is that it can easily issue commands one to many, which is absolutely necessary for security, secret service, and firefighting.
Kim Apollo has become one of the few walkie-talkie experts in the world. From only displaying numbers to multi-purpose applications.
In Australia, in response to the vast land and sparsely populated areas, Xu Qingguang designed a sprinkler system that can automatically turn on and off for customers to manage large farms. Utilizing the feature of the walkie-talkie that it can transmit dozens of kilometers, you can press it once to turn it on and press it again to turn it off.
The FBI ordered a text-based walkie-talkie. When going on a mission, the team leader can give orders to more than ten operators at any time. The technical requirements are not high, but the security and confidentiality requirements are extremely strict.
In recent years, Golden Apollo has also been developing the Taiwan market, but the purpose is very different. It mainly focuses on a la carte restaurants, such as Brown Cafe, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, rest stop meals, etc. In the second half of the year, a more “intelligent” system will be developed. For example, it can display how long it will take to wait for the guest’s turn, or if the front area needs cleaning or maintenance. There will be different signals to increase the application of the product.
Also because market demand relies almost entirely on government procurement from various countries, Golden Apollo’s performance does not fluctuate with the economy, but is instead affected by government spending.
In 2008, Taiwan’s technology industry was very bleak, but Golden Apollo’s performance that year hit a record high, reaching three. NT$300 million. Because the government budget is compiled the year before. But the next year’s performance dropped by 50 million due to the government’s budget tightening, and the next year it dropped another 50 million. In the next few years, Xu Qingguang optimistically predicts that Japan, which was originally closed to the market, will expand external procurement after the Fukushima earthquake.
Some people say that government money is the best to make, and this is especially true for Golden Apollo. Because almost all of them are customized products, there are few competitors, and the gross profit is more than 40%.
But it takes real skills to continue receiving orders. Because walkie-talkies are often used in disaster relief, wilderness and other areas, each unit must undergo strict extreme climate, waterproof, drop resistance, and static electricity tests before leaving the factory. The design is wrong, or the components are not strong enough. Change the supplier or redesign immediately.
You Qicong, deputy director of the Industrial Economics Center of ITRI, said to Kim Apollo, “This is the path Taiwan is going to take.” Because Taiwan is a small country and has few resources, it is not suitable for mass production.
But if you can occupy a niche market, have a unique set of integrated technologies, and establish barriers to entry, you can enjoy high gross profits. This is a direction that many companies in Taiwan that pursue a large number of low gross profits can consider.
Xu Qingguang was asked, “Why didn’t you think of investing in the mainland?” Xu Qingguang replied, “We really have no advantage in going to the mainland.” Qian said that his opponents have done everything they can, and competing for scale and mass production is not a golden Apollo.
In the 16th year since its establishment, Xu Qingguang focuses on his own advantages and strives to be the best in the world.
Golden Apollo Profile
Chairman: Xu Qingguang
Date of establishment: 1995
Capital: 100 million yuan
Annual revenue: 200 million yuan (2010)
Number of employees: 40
Status: The largest supplier of walkie-talkies and pagers in the United States and the second largest in Europe Business:
Main markets: United States, Europe, Australia
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