Word: dvd
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There was a time, only about 15 years ago, when David Ji, co-founder of Apex Digital, the top-selling maker and importer of DVD players, couldn't rent a movie. When he was a graduate student and part-time house painter, Ji says, "I wanted a VCR, but I couldn't afford...
Until recently, many Americans felt the same way about a DVD player. The digital successor to the VCR was a luxury item, costing hundreds of dollars on average. But that was before Ji, 50, and his partner, Ancle Hsu, 41, burst into the home-electronics market. Since Apex introduced its first model in early 2000, for $179, the price of DVD players has plummeted. Apex, based in Ontario, Calif., remains a low-price leader, with its basic units now selling for about $59 at large retailers like Circuit City and Wal-Mart. The fledgling company has captured...
...formed a scrap-metal business of their own, then started a side business importing speakers and amplifiers, and later DVD players, from China. The first units they imported and sold through Circuit City differed from others sold in the U.S. at the time in that they could play MP3 files. The players also sported a quirk Ji and Hsu say they were unaware of: a manufacturing error allowed users to copy DVDs to videotape and override coding that prevents DVDs of films from being viewed in countries where they have not been released...
Apex quickly fixed the problem, but by then the brand had developed a certain rogue hipness among illicit copiers of films on DVD. "We noticed on our website that a lot of people were searching for Apex," says Rick Souder, a Circuit City vice president. But the key to Apex's rapid growth was its rock-bottom prices, which were achieved by working closely with low-cost Chinese producers, accepting slim profit margins and skimping on advertising...
...stay away from their pictures. But Jackson is the definition of a purist. For him, The Two Towers is not a sequel to The Fellowship of the Ring; it's simply the three-hour second act of an epic nine-hour trilogy called Lord of the Rings. The complete dvd should be available...