Jane Lai

    BELIEVE it or not, Apple’s iPhone and iPod are just that popular — a lot of people around the world are playing with their iPhones and iPods on streets, lifts, subways, at airports, offices and gyms.

    Growing with the popularity of Apple products are sales of Apple accessories and one of the winners in the market is 61-year-old Chinese man Li Yong.

    Li, CEO of Shenzhen-based Wonders Technology Co., was authorized by Apple to launch more than a dozen Apple digital audio products last year, attracting a lot of international attention.

    His DOSS (Dream of Smart Sound) brand has become one of the most renowned digital audio brands for Apple’s iPhone, iPod and iPad in the world. Each year, DOSS launches more than 100 products, or 10 per month. One set of wireless speakers had even won a German iF Product Design Award in 2009, a recognized international competition for industrial design.

    So far, there are 27 million Apple consumers in more than 50 countries using DOSS products.

    The age of 60 became a benchmark for Li and an inspiration for existing and potential entrepreneurs.

    From Army man to businessman

    Li joined the Army at the age of 17 and retired from military service at 47, as news department head of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

    “Before I retired, I had decided to set up my own business and the most attractive destination for me was Shenzhen,” recalls Li, who came to Shenzhen in 1998.

    Unlike most Chinese entrepreneurs, Li conquered overseas markets before turning to the domestic market.

    Using his savings, he established Wonders Industrial Development Co. in 1999. He seemed to have been born with an aptitude for business, and decided to sell audio systems for DVD players, which were becoming popular at a time when supporting audio systems were rare.

    The company first designed a line of DVD speakers priced from a few hundred yuan to more than 1,000 yuan (US$152). Good quality and cheap prices ensured the products were well-received, particularly in overseas markets. He then renamed the company Wonders Technology Co.

    “I do remember one of our audio systems that sold so well then because of considerable demand from overseas markets. That helped lay a solid foundation for our conquest of the markets.”

    He earned his first pot of gold in the first three years. However, growing with the DVD audio market was also pressure on the first supporting audio systems because of pirated products.

    “Our advantage was in price but we lacked core competence. We soon found a lot of copies of our audio systems and other companies swarming into the market. The markets became increasingly disordered and chaotic.”

    A transformation

    Again, his business acumen helped Wonders get through this tumultuous time.

    In 2001, Apple’s first MP3 player iPod became immensely popular soon after it was launched. Immediately grasping the opportunity, Wonders designed a portable speaker for iPod. To Li’s great surprise, orders overwhelmed the company as soon as the speaker was shown at a foreign exhibition.

    “It even took the shine off our popular DVD speakers,” Li said.

    The following year, he was determined to shift his main business to the production and sales of supporting audio systems for Apple. He created a new brand — DOSS — and DOSS products went on sale in Suning and Gome electrical appliance stores and Walmart’s Sam’s Club in Shenzhen in the same year.

    In 2003, DOSS entered the American market and realized sales of 10 million yuan that year. At the end of 2005, DOSS successfully made its way to leading sales channels of electronic products in North America and more importantly, Apple’s specialty stores.

    By 2007, DOSS had become one of the most important research and development centers and production bases for iPod speakers. Competitors included JBL and Bose, internationally renowned professional audio brands.

    A challenge with

    inspiration

    Li describes himself as one who faces challenges with great passion and his employees are required to have the same qualities.

    Launching 10 new products every month would already be a challenge for many companies, but Li was not satisfied. He set a target for his employees, before 2009, to design a speaker that would qualify for a German iF Award — the Oscar of industrial design.

    The design of audio systems had long been considered a tough task because the range of shapes was limited by the way speakers produce sound.

    But it was not a mission impossible. In 2009, his employees succeeded. They designed a set of two wireless iPhone and iPod speakers, which are ball-shaped and can be used as toys for children.

    To inspire his more than 120-member R&D team, Li organizes market research each week and regularly sends them to the United States, Germany and France to broaden their vision and learn as much as they can.

    The company is now a government-recognized high-tech company and one of the top 100 small-to-medium-sized Shenzhen enterprises.

    It had been a hard entrepreneurial journey and perseverance was a great help, Li said.

    “For an entrepreneur, age is not a problem. As long as he has passion and drive, he can make a way himself.”