[FiiO]

The once-hot MP3 market was undoubtedly a market almost occupied by overseas brands. After mobile phones gradually replaced MP3 products, a new "audio player" industry was born. This niche high-end industry aims at audiophiles who are chasing higher sound quality. What's more interesting is that the audio player industry originated in China, and the biggest brand in this market also comes from China.

This is FiiO.

As a brand with a history of 14 years, FiiO has been dedicating to the R&D and sales of products in the audio industry, and is now the second portable player manufacturer in the world, second only to Sony. From its birth to the present, FiiO has grown steadily with its own rhythm on the road of the Chinese audio industry, neither radical nor conservative.

 

[FiiO]

1. Birth: Beginnings and Opportunities​

In 2007, the FiiO brand and company were established at the same time, and the founders were veterans who had worked in the audio industry for many years. So the company they founded was mainly focused on the audio industry. At the time, digital audio was booming, and the market had shifted from home audio to personal audio. Therefore, FiiO decided to revolve around this change, defining the brand as HiFi digital audio. The brand's English name is FiiO, where Fi means HiFi and iO means the numbers 0 and 1.

 

[FiiO]

FiiO was born ahead of the music player category in which they are most famous. In 2007, the player industry had not yet appeared, and the MP3 industry had rapidly gone down. At that time, many audiophiles complained a lot about the bad sound quality of smartphones when playing music. They kept using SONY and iPod Classic for their excellent sound quality and music experience. However, there was a driver issue with using quality portable headphones. So, many "bundled products" were born, making the traditional MP3 a line-out source, and bundling it with a portable headphone amplifier. It was so bulky and inconvenient.

The first time Chinese fans knew about the FiiO brand, was when they released the portable DAC/Amp, E5, which is only the size of an iPod Shuffle. It has been well received in the foreign forum Head-Fi, and many audiophiles purchased and discussed it. Then, many Chinese customers bought it overseas. Only then did they realize that FiiO is a brand from China.

The E5 is FiiO's first product that has attached the attention of audiophiles in China. At its initial stage, FiiO has actually developed many niche but in-demand product lines, such as the successful portable DAC/Amp, and even portable speakers, guitar monitors. After the birth of the E5, FiiO has also clarified its developing direction - to design and manufacture excellent products for audiophiles around the world.

 

[FiiO]

Subsequently, with the rise of portable music players, FiiO also officially launched its first portable music player, the X3. By virtue of its consistently high cost performance, FiiO has been highly acclaimed by countless audiophiles. Soon after, FiiO launched their second portable music player, the X5. This product has also become a milestone product of FiiO in the player market, whose excellent sound performance has left a deep impression on many audiophiles. It also made FiiO officially become a new "big" brand in the global music player market.

Now, FiiO consists of over 300 employees, including a core team with nearly 30 years of R&D experience in audio products development, including software, hardware, industrial design, structural and electro-acoustics engineering. Since its founding, FiiO has always emphasized the development of in-house research and development capabilities with 2 existing brands, FiiO and the internet direct-selling brand JadeAudio. The R&D and marketing center covers an area of 1500 square meters, and the production factory 3500 square meters. To meet the needs of better development, the whole company, including the R&D, sales and marketing, and product departments, will move to an independent industrial park with an area of about 10,000 square meters in 2022. FiiO is pursuing high efficiency and technical mastery during the production process, and equipped with a full set of advanced development and testing tools, including an oscilloscope worth over 200k RMB, two Audio Precision analyzers worth over 500k RMB, and a newly-established OTA anechoic chamber and microwave shielding chamber with corollary equipment worth a million RMB in total. Additionally, its all-new updated dust-free workshop and four two-way assembly production lines allow an annual production of up to 1 million units. FiiO has set the goal of creating versatile and affordable Hi-Fi products for customers all over the world.

 

[warrenpchi]

The first time Chinese fans knew about the FiiO brand, was when they released the portable DAC/Amp, E5, which is only the size of an iPod Shuffle. It has been well received in the foreign forum Head-Fi, and many audiophiles purchased and discussed it. Then, many Chinese customers bought it overseas. Only then did they realize that FiiO is a brand from China.

I had one of those! Still do actually, but the battery won't hold a charge after all this time. Wow, now I feel old.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

I love Fiio taking inspiration from Schiit with the whole blog thing. It's awesome

 

[ASpencer]

Despite all the success and expansion, the FiiO still cares about individual customers which is one of their strengths.

 

[gadgetgod]

I have used several different products from FiiO including the budget M6 DAP to their mid-fi level M11 Pro/Plus. In IEMs I have heard their FH5s, FH5, FH7, FD5, FD3, and many more, IMO your IEMs are really good!!

 

[jmwant]

I love Fiio taking inspiration from Schiit with the whole blog thing. It's awesome

I was thinking the same.

 

[FiiO]

2. Persistence: embracing changes of the whole industry​

After the rapid rise of the player industry, FiiO got into its stride. For the player industry at that time, most of the products kept traditional UI, when users started to pay more attention to sound, appearance and experience. FiiO thus became a leader in the industry.

But not long after, with the rapid development of the chip industry and streaming media music platforms, users are more and more inclined to directly use streaming media, and the Android system at that time has gradually matured so that there were brands trying to use it for their music players which allow for the installation of more streaming music apps. And FiiO is naturally a leading brand in the industry. Looking back at that time, FiiO defined their models of that era as the "primary Android smart music players". With the overall change of the product, both the design and sound performance have reached a new level compared with the initial traditional HiFi players.

At this stage, FiiO has also brought many technological innovations that lead the industry, such as the support of dual TF cards, Samsung's SoC platform, as well as the support of the fast charging protocol that has not yet been fully popularized in the mobile phone industry. Each of these small innovations is a huge improvement in experience for users.

At the company level, FiiO has always maintained a steady pace of progress, and constantly formulates internal short-, medium- and long-term plans. Therefore, since its establishment, it was capable of handling both internal and external difficulties. FiiO's several founders had a common corporate cultural background from the beginning, because they had been in the same team before for many years. At the very beginning of the establishment, the founders had already had a clear division of labor, which has hardly changed from 2007 to the present for 14 years.

From the perspective of corporate culture, FiiO has always adhered to the core values of "duty, tolerance, teamwork, and quality", and regards enhancing the reputation of "Made in China" in the world as its brand mission. They are committed to designing, producing, and selling high-quality products for consumers who love music, pursue fashion, and live a high-quality life, and insist on delivering good sound. This is also FiiO's long-term vision. And every user who has ever purchased a FiiO product must also remember their brand proposition printed on the packaging: FiiO, Born for Music. The accumulation of all these brand cultures has created FiiO, a 14-year-old brand with a hard-working and reliable team with the same values.

 

[housekrl]

I own the m7 player and fh7 iem's. Great products, especially for the money. I hope to someday upgrade the m7 to one of the higher end models.

 

[NYanakiev]

Nice thread! Love my m17!!

 

[zeissiez]

My favorite Fiio: M11Plus, BTR5, FD7, FH9. Keep it up!

Wish list: BTR7 with a larger battery and better EQ features

 

[FiiO]

3. Development: from common to high-end​

If FiiO's initial success was due to its strong product strength and excellent cost performance, then FiiO has now broken away from the basic concept of a "cost-effective" brand, and has gradually pushed its brand positioning and products to the high-end.

First of all, FiiO has attracted a large number of users and loyal fans through cost-effective strategies, and is willing to listen to users' opinions and be sincere friends with them. Steady development is the core strategy for the FiiO brand and the whole enterprise. Perhaps there is still a little gap between FiiO and international brands in terms of earphones and true wireless earphones. But for other product categories, FiiO has basically equaled to or even surpassed many international brands.

Second, in terms of products, as one of the brands with the best sales and turnover in the industry, FiiO has not actually released its own truly high-end flagship music player. In the market where flagship music players from other brands generally have been priced over 3000 USD on average, FiiO has no representatives that exceeded 1500 USD. It was not until 2021 that the new product M17 broke the price line of 1500 USD for the first time, and this player, which FiiO defines as a "portable desktop-class player", has also become a milestone for FiiO's M series music players. James, the founder of FiiO, said that in the past year, the proudest event is that FiiO has developed the M17, a portable desktop-class player, which is warmly welcomed by users. This also marks that FiiO's products have stood on their feet in the high-end market of more than 1500 USD, helping the enterprise to expand the territory in the future.

In addition to the continuous development of the player product line, FiiO has invested vastly in headphones, headphone amplifiers and Bluetooth HiFi products and made rapid progress. In terms of earphones, they have four main traditional HiFi wired earphone product lines (FA, FD, FH, EM series), and Bluetooth wireless earphone products (FB, TWS). In terms of headphone amplifiers, FiiO did not ignore their old business, trying to develop both traditional portable DAC/Amp with a battery, and today's popular USB audio adapters. In brief, FiiO's extremely long product lines cover almost all products that audiophiles will use in their daily life.

As a brand that focuses on developing good products for users, FiiO is cutely dubbed a big accessory manufacturer by customers and fans. With the continuous expansion of product lines and more voices for various connectors, cables, etc., FiiO thus released a large number of accessories of its own. Just like what they usually like to do, FiiO provides the most affordable cables and accessories in the industry.

 

[FiiO]

4. Present and future: unafraid of changes, move forward steadily​

Looking back on the past, FiiO has become the top ten HiFi headphones and digital audio brands in China for five years in a row. FiiO also joined the branch of Earphones of China Audio Industry Association founded in November 2007 and served as the Vice Chairman. Additionally, FiiO is the certified National High-tech Enterprise, a member of China Audio Industry Association, China's Top 20 Cutting-edge IP Enterprise and Guangzhou Little Giant Enterprise of Science and Innovation. Relying on outstanding product designs, FiiO obtained many valid patents and hundreds of well-known awards, such as iF Design Award, Reddot Award, EISA Award, VGP Award, Spring/Autumn Headphone Festival award and Black Gold award. In 2021 alone, it has acquired 24 patents (3 invention patents, 11 utility model patents, and 10 appearance patents).

In the future, FiiO will maintain the same pace as before, and move forward with stability. These two years during the epidemic were tough for FiiO and the whole industry. The chip shortage and price hikes since last year have caused many troubles for all brands in the industry, like cost increases, new product delays, etc. Thanks to the stable operation and rich product lines, although the production and operation have been affected to some extent, with the joint efforts of all FiiOers, they have overcome the difficulties encountered and still set a new high for the company's sales in 2020. And the sales in 2021 were basically equal to 2020.

As for the future plan, FiiO has not become radical because of its current achievements. In FiiO's planning in the next five years, it aims to be a brand that can provide all-around audio solutions for individuals, and a company that can bring high-quality sounds in main use scenarios. When talking about the potential crisis that FiiO is facing, James said that "The biggest crisis of a company will always come from within. At present, all FiiO employees are working in harmony with great unity. Our main action next is to move to the new factory and expand product lines to meet the new demands of consumers."

In the end, we also hope that FiiO will bring more excellent products to audiophiles around the world in the coming days, and truly bring "China Voice" to the world from R&D to manufacturing.