By David Gewirtz
This month, we had the opportunity to interview Mike Sager, a VP at Kingston Technology, the world's largest independent memory manufacturer. Mike helped us explore two interesting issues: the future of flash memory and how Kingston supports its flash memory customers.
David:Please introduce yourself and explain your role at Kingston.
Mike:My name is Mike Sager and I am the Vice President of Corporate Communications and Customer Service at Kingston and have been with the company since 1990. While these may seem like unrelated responsibilities, overseeing both has given me a unique perspective on the marketplace and allows me to view our business from two unique, yet equally important perspectives.
Working with the media gives me a chance to understand what consumers are thinking based on what the media hears, and shares with us. It also allows me to review this information, along with what we hear directly from consumers to create support programs that are always in line with what our customers demand.
David:Flash memory has certainly enabled the boom (and transformation) of the camera industry. Can you give us some
background on how flash became so important to picture takers?
Mike:Flash memory can be viewed as film for the 21st century and beyond and has drastically changed the overall imaging workflow of professional photographers, enthusiasts and consumers. Photographers no longer need to change a roll of film after taking 36 pictures and the way people can now share images has grown exponentially.
Photojournalists were the first to embrace digital photography because of the ability to shoot an assignment longer and transmit images to the newspaper on site. The ability to transmit, share and even print pictures on location (or vacation) has really put the fun back into photography for all levels of expertise. Today, we offer 8GB CompactFlash cards and 2GB SD cards for virtually endless shooting capabilities. And today, a 1GB CF card sells for about $67, making digital imaging extremely economical.
David:What's a camera going to look like in 10 years?
Mike:It is hard to say what cameras will look like 10 years from now but when you look back at past designs, they have changed drastically over the last few years.
Today, digital cameras have evolved from computer peripherals to imaging devices, which is what they are. And as such, have taken on more of the conventional 35mm SLR and point-and-shoot 35mm camera appearance. The cameras are certainly getting smaller, thanks to advancement in flash media such as SD cards and microSD and miniSD cards for cell phones.
Does that mean that future camera designs will be even smaller than today? I'm not sure but their design will continue to evolve thanks to all the advanced technologies available to designers today.
David:Does memory drive the camera business?
Mike:Memory doesn't necessarily drive the camera business but it does drive the camera design, to some extent. The overall design of a camera was really based on its ability to house a CompactFlash card, which would dictate its size and shape. And with SD cards, cameras have become smaller but the availability of the SD card allowed camera manufacturers to design smaller cameras, so I do believe memory cards can drive the camera business.
David:What's a phone going to look like in 10 years?
Mike:I'm not really sure but Kingston will be right there with media and technology to support it.
David:Do you see consumer phones eclipsing cameras in the next few years?
Mike:Camera phone technology is constantly evolving and I would not be surprised to see a 4-6 megapixel camera phone available in the U.S. in the not-to-distant future. However I believe that dedicated point-and-shoot digital cameras will not go away any time soon. Do I think camera phones will be as good as dedicated digital cameras? No, I don't, but there will be a definite market and demand for high quality camera phones.
David:What criteria should our readers use in choosing a flash memory supplier? Are you more an innovator or a close-follower?
Mike:As with any purchase, choose a vendor that has a proven track record of quality along with good customer service.
So how would someone go about determining the level of quality or customer service for a particular vendor? It's kind of difficult to ascertain a company's quality standards. Normally word of mouth is the only way. But, there is a way to get some idea of the level of support offered by a given vendor. Call their customer service department to see what kind of service they offer:
- Do you get to talk to a technician as opposed to leaving a voice mail?
- Are they available 24x7?
- What is their return policy?
- Do they offer overnight replacement?
- If you get put on hold, how long is their average hold time?
As the newcomer in the market, we continue to watch the direction of the market and develop products we believe will benefit consumers while filling a need. Good customer service and listening to consumers on the street can tell you a lot if you listen.
Kingston is not always the first to market with a new product line or faster speed cards, but we have a very high
level of customer satisfaction because we conduct exhaustive QC [quality control] testing before products hit retail and we provide new lines of products that meet the needs of our customers.
David:How do you ensure reliability? What kind of tech support do you find yourself doing? Have you off-shored technical support (one of the pet peeves of most of our American readers)?
Mike:Before a product is released for mass production, the design is tested to ensure compatibility. To weed out potential defects, all units are functionally tested prior to shipment.
At Kingston, we have a very strong emphasis on customer service. Our philosophy is to do everything possible to solve the customer's problem, even if that means troubleshooting the customer's camera, PC, whatever. Our technicians are well rounded in all aspects of hi-tech. Desktops, laptops, servers, operating systems, network operating systems, cameras, cell phones, applications, etc.
Do we "offshore" our technical support? No, we do not. All of our support is as follows:
- U.S., Canada, Latin America: Tech support from the U.S.
- Asia: Tech support from Taipei
- Europe, England, Africa, Middle East: Tech support from London
Have you ever helped someone get back their pictures?
Mike:Yes. If a customer has lost or damaged photos, we ask them to send us their flash card and, while we offer no guarantees, often times we can recover the photos. No charge of course.
David:What's happening with the various memory formats? Are we reaching a plateau for how small we can cut the chips up?
Mike:Intuitively, you would think so. But I've been in hi-tech for nearly 30 years and the chip designers always find a way to make them smaller and run faster.
David:What else should we know about the future of flash memory for our phones and cameras?
Mike:Capacities will continue to increase and prices will stabilize or decline slightly. In short, end users will receive more memory for the same amount of money.