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Michael Taylor

Shy design firm creates products for many famous brands

PASSION IS WHAT  drives the engineers at Daka, a design and product development company.

'We are a group of engineers and designers with a passion for innovation. More than 60 per cent of our staff are either designers or engineers, forming the infrastructure of our company,' Daka Development  executive chairman Pat Mah See-yin said.

If you haven't heard of Daka, you have surely heard of its products - you might even own a few.

Established in 1993, the Hong Kong-based company is the brains behind a series of items sold under famous names that include AC Delco, Bombardier, CNN, Evinrude, General Motors, Hummer and Sea-Doo.

'Our business is different from your typical Hong Kong or Chinese company,' Mr Mah said.

'We have complete control over our marketing. We focus on brand management, managing these global brands. We develop and manufacture our products. We do not do OEM [original equipment manufacturing] or ODM [original design manufacturing]. We tend to shy away from manufacturing products for other people because there is no added value for us.'

Daka focuses on three general product lines: sports and leisure, marine electronics and lifestyle electronics.

'We are the licensee for other brands,' Mr Mah said. 'We put their names on our products, marketing them under their names.'

Daka is different in other ways as well. It doesn't compete on price.

'We are not a commodity type of company,' Mr Mah said.

'We cannot compete on price. We compete on innovation and quality. We develop and manufacture products that no one else can do.'

One of its most successful products to date is the Sea-Doo Seascooter, which has been marketed under a licensing agreement with Bombardier Recreational Products since 2001. It retails for about US$200 and is sold in Australia, Japan, the United States and other countries big on water sports.

A personal underwater device, the Seascooter is capable of pulling divers underwater at a speed of 3.5km/h for more than an hour.

'A family of Seascooters will be developed,' Mr Mah said. 'Our latest, the Dolphin, is the fourth model in the line. We have a road map of product development extending through 2010.'

Waiting in the wings is Mosquito Magnet, which will mimic human beings by emitting carbon dioxide (CO2), heat, moisture and octenol. As mosquitoes approach, they will be quietly vacuumed into a net where they dehydrate and die. Set to hit the shelves in March or April, it took two years and $1 million to develop. It will retail for about $1,000 in Hong Kong and less than US$200 overseas.

'I think its potential is enormous,' Mr Mah said. 'With the recent epidemic, everyone is threatened by mosquitoes. So the market is enormous - for both institutions and households.'

At Daka, it's all about innovation. 'Sixty per cent of our intellectual property is protected by international patents and another 50 are pending,' Mr Mah said. 'We work with world-renowned designers, assisting them to industrialise and commercialise their products. We help them to realise their mission.'

So how does the company deal with knockoffs? 'As soon as someone starts copying our products, we move on to something else,' Mr Mah said.

So why doesn't Daka develop a brand name of its own?

'Using recognisable names gives our products instant recognition,' Mr Mah said. 'It tells the consumer  it's a quality product, which allows us to market and distribute products much easier. This is a unique business model in Hong Kong and China,' he said.



Passion for innovation drives brains at Daka