popularity??

[Lionheart12]

How popular is Cowon in Korea and the rest of the world compared to the US??[confused] [confused]

[larcencielle]

Well, as a Korean, I would say that Cowon is one of the top mp3 companies in Korea; the only other equivalent competitor would be iRiver.
Samsung used to manufacture viable products in mp3 market but apparently, they're too busy making computer hardware chips.
LG also used to be a top mp3 manufacturer but like Samsung, the focus of the company also shifted away from mp3 market.
Right now in Korea, it's either Cowon D2 or iRiver Clix. iPod has not been successful here nor any other foreign companies.
You can say we are somewhat conservative, but that's the driving force behind many great products, like D2!

[tabv]

Well, as a Korean, I would say that Cowon is one of the top mp3 companies in Korea; the only other equivalent competitor would be iRiver.
Samsung used to manufacture viable products in mp3 market but apparently, they're too busy making computer hardware chips.
LG also used to be a top mp3 manufacturer but like Samsung, the focus of the company also shifted away from mp3 market.
Right now in Korea, it's either Cowon D2 or iRiver Clix. iPod has not been successful here nor any other foreign companies.
You can say we are somewhat conservative, but that's the driving force behind many great products, like D2!

I can understand why ipod hasn't been succesful in other countries....I just can't figure out how come us americans got sucked into such a stupid mp3 player with all it's restrictions and memory sucking software that needs to be used just to put a song on it. And it's inability to take your player to a friends house hook it up to his pc and collect as many of your favorite songs as you want.
Btw..I've never owned an ipod but my nephew has one and he hated it...he now has a U3 thanks to me..while his nano collects dust.

[mikey]

Korea is the Dap Messiahs!
That is excellent re the ipod, but tabv we are the same in Australia even our prime minister was walking with his ipod the other day.

[Lionheart12]

That is an interesting fact. I thought Ipod was king. But apparently its popularity is only limited to america.

Cowon is still my first choice.

[maxjensen]

Ipod is king in Europe also. Some even call every mp3-player for ipod - like they call emails for hotmail - DUH!. Cowon isn't well known at all. I have never seen a Cowon in a store here.

[p.nightmare]

Ipod is king in Europe also. Some even call every mp3-player for ipod - like they call emails for hotmail - DUH!. Cowon isn't well known at all. I have never seen a Cowon in a store here.

same thing in italy...
"oh, you bought a new ipod?"" "no... it's a cowon... cowon d2..." "a kind of ipod, isn't it?"
[sad]

[Yeeze]

When I was in Europe, I never saw a Cowon player, but also none of my class mates had an iPod, the most people had creative players...
Anyway now here in the US, my brothers have Cowon players, and that is probably the only reason I decided finally to hold out for the D2 rather then buying the Meizu M6....
It really was a good decision, to buy the D2 ;)

[mintcheerios]

I've seen someone with an X5 in Norway and Spain. Never saw one in the US.

[Blackroom]

Here in Sweden it is more mixed. People have alot of different DAP's ranging from the most popular ipods´s to iriver ,Cowon, creative, samsung etc etc.
In Sweden people generally seems to call their DAP's for "mp3" which bugs me a bit, but it is better than ipod anyway.

[mintcheerios]

That's infinitely better than iPod.

[Keng]

i think the people in Sweden like iPod's more coz it's more "popular"

[Blackroom]

In Swedish; Tja Keng! hade inte du en U10:a oxå? Känner igen ditt nick från iriverforumet.

[Boumer]

i think the people in Sweden like iPod's more coz it's more "popular"
I actually haven't seen a Swede with another DAP than the iPod... I think that most people just want something to listen to their music on, and Apple's iPod is the most well-known one, so they just buy it.

But, hey... their loss!

[Yurre]

I actually haven't seen a Swede with another DAP than the iPod... I think that most people just want something to listen to their music on, and Apple's iPod is the most well-known one, so they just buy it.

But, hey... their loss!


Very true... Too bad apple is the only one that do advertice their products... Besides, their design is clean and for most people, appealing...

I very much dislike that Microsoft's Zune is so similar to ipod, they could have made a sooo much better product than what they popped out...

Also dislike Creatives approach on their "Zen Vision: M"... looks too much like an ipod, making people belive that this is an "ipod copy".

Cowon or iAudio as it's called for the most part is a somewhat unknown brand, but they have great products (my D2 :))

Iriver is pretty big, but prices aren't always the lowest, for what you get (looks, image..)

Quality is good though, but regular people just want a "pretty looking" player, and the ipod is just that...

[tabv]

Korea is the Dap Messiahs!
That is excellent re the ipod, but tabv we are the same in Australia even our prime minister was walking with his ipod the other day.

After reading all these posts it makes me feel better knowing that America isn't the only country that got sucked into the ipod.
It's funny I wonder what Asian people think when they try out the ipod knowing that so many countries are into them....there probably like "What the heck is the matter with those Americans...who would won't a dap like this..this is crazy" then throwing it in the trash....[laugh]

[mikey]

I very much dislike that Microsoft's Zune is so similar to ipod, they could have made a sooo much better product than what they popped out...

My gf has one and they are a nice player with a lot of potential with the wifi the future looks bright. its an pretty good first up effort, my only qualm is the battery life is like 10 hours for music but the videos look awesome on it, I guess watch this space


Also dislike Creatives approach on their "Zen Vision: M"... looks too much like an ipod, making people belive that this is an "ipod copy".



I thought this too until i read creative are/were suing apple as its their design lol

[Blackroom]

I actually haven't seen a Swede with another DAP than the iPod... I think that most people just want something to listen to their music on, and Apple's iPod is the most well-known one, so they just buy it.

But, hey... their loss!

That's funny because I have another experience. I see alot of people now days with the Sony Ericsson walkman phones and also I see alot of different DAP's out there. In my experience it is at least a 50/50 split between IPOD's and other brands. But that could be my fault by not seing those ipod's and just looking at the other brands [wink]

[kbc]

I'm from UK and the majority of the commuters I see on the train have an IPod Nano or the regular IPod. Personally I've never been a fan of the Apple variants and dislike iTunes as well. The fact that it's so popular here is the driving force behind why I prefer other brands. IPod doesn't look great, everyone has one and it's now no longer special. Shame Cowon isn't that heard of here.

Creative is also very big here, with their Zens. But again, I'm not too keen. I have never ever heard of Cowon until I went to Hong Kong few years ago and purchased a iAudio U2 1GB MP3 player. Apparently Cowon are pretty big in HK too! [laugh] But a few days ago, I decided to replace it with a Cowon D2 and am now a very happy customer. I did check out the IRiver Clix but preferred the touch-screen of the D2. [yes]

[maxjensen]

Ahhhh my D2. I am so happy I have seen the light :) Lucky guy with one nice DAP and free of iTunes. Life is good, right? [thumbsup]

[emjay1]

I'm from UK and the majority of the commuters I see on the train have an IPod Nano or the regular IPod. Personally I've never been a fan of the Apple variants and dislike iTunes as well. The fact that it's so popular here is the driving force behind why I prefer other brands. IPod doesn't look great, everyone has one and it's now no longer special. Shame Cowon isn't that heard of here.

Creative is also very big here, with their Zens. But again, I'm not too keen. I have never ever heard of Cowon until I went to Hong Kong few years ago and purchased a iAudio U2 1GB MP3 player. Apparently Cowon are pretty big in HK too! [laugh] But a few days ago, I decided to replace it with a Cowon D2 and am now a very happy customer. I did check out the IRiver Clix but preferred the touch-screen of the D2. [yes]

Tell me about it. I'm also from the UK and sick of seeing ipods and those white earbuds/cords everywhere...and the thing is, you feel great for having something you know is better than an ipod (previously I had an iRiver H140), but at the same time you know those people with ipods are going to see your dap and think - ha, look at that loser, he can't afford an ipod so he's got some crappy mp3 player.... [cursing]

[kbc]

Tell me about it. I'm also from the UK and sick of seeing ipods and those white earbuds/cords everywhere...and the thing is, you feel great for having something you know is better than an ipod (previously I had an iRiver H140), but at the same time you know those people with ipods are going to see your dap and think - ha, look at that loser, he can't afford an ipod so he's got some crappy mp3 player.... [cursing]

LoL....[laugh] Not when they see me pushing some buttons on the LCD screen. [thumbsup] The touch-screen is pretty impressive.

The D2 is smaller than the standard IPod, and from what I gather much more reliable. I've seen a few people on the trains with A2's but they're pretty big. Having an IPod is being unadventurous, there's only so many of them around because people aren't aware of Cowon (..or Cowon simply hasn't tried hard enough to penetrate the European market). [laugh] - I'm in desperate need of those hard silicon cases for my D2, wish I could get my hands on those.