Ruslan Kogan is seen as a big disrupter in Australia’s consumer electronics industry. He talks down entrenched brick-and-mortar rivals, and talks up his own nascent brands.
But there’s one thing you gotta concede. Kogan, an immigrant from Belarus, puts his money where his mouth is.
The man who famously asserted he’s not “Apple’s bitch,” has put out an offering that seeks to tap the huge popularity of Apple’s string of products — a $199 Stereo Entertainment System + iPad Dock that comes with a free iOS Kogan Music Hub App. True to reputation, Kogan pulls no punches even in the press release — “the entire package comes at under 1/7th the price of competitors like the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8.”
So, what’s the Kogan system got?
It lets you stream your playlists from the iPad, iPod and iPhone, or other devices through the auxiliary input. The Kogan music app allows users to tune into local radio stations and over 15,000 Internet radio stations. Kogan says its system can play audio from almost any device, besides running videos straight from your iPad onto a big-screen TV with the coaxial video output. The system, with an aluminium finish, comes with a slim remote.
The speakers on the Kogan system can be detached to enable many different setup options. Also, even though it has been designed for Apple’s popular devices, it can be used with many other similar gadgets.
“Don’t be surprised if the number of noise complaints skyrocket once these start hitting Australian homes!” Kogan said, in characteristic fashion.
Kogan, who has won several awards for building his consumer electronics empire stretching to the United Kingdom, was Anthill’s Top 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs in 2010 and 2011. Since its debut in 2006, Kogan has sold more than 300,000 products and considered one of the fastest-growing companies in Australia. Its products include the Kogan range of low-priced LED televisions, and even a Chrome-based laptop.
