Apex Televisions

Apex Inc: You get what you pay for

Its no secret that Apex specializes in cheap electronics equipment. The old adage is that you get what you pay for and this holds especially true with Apex Televisions.

Apex came to prominence in the eyes of bargain hunters across North America in 1999 with the first sub $200 DVD players -- at that time it was a remarkably cheap price. Apex continues to break new ground on outrageously inexpensive equipment. During Christmas season of 2004, it was Apexs DVD players Wall-Mart shoppers were trampling each other to get to because they cost less than $40.
Apex cuts costs through low profit margins on higher volumes, by not spending on research and development, manufacturing and design and, some charge, through dubious business practices that include not paying for patents. Apexs legal troubles include litigation from various companies for patent infringement and from trade groups for unfair business practices. Even greater legal problems came to a head for Apex when Co-founder David Ji was arrested by Chinese authorities during a visit to Shen Zhen on December 2004. Charged with fraud, Apex apparently refused to pay a state sponsored Chinese factory some 400 million dollars in manufacturing costs.

The Walnut California firm seemed to become a recognized brand for Wal-Mart shoppers everywhere by employing Chinese manufacturing firms to make pre-designed low quality equipment and employing dubious illegal business practices while keeping the lawsuits that stack up against them tied up in courts. The fact that they made Time Magazines top 15 influential businesses of 2002, with the future of Apexs legal trouble uncertain, is a sad commentary on our times. But theres no denying the companys popularity. It seems the general population has an unquenchable thirst for cheap gear because their brand is now seen on pre-fabricated high definition televisions.

Sound TV shopping advice

If you just want a cheap TV, buy a smaller one or go with standard definition. Either choice will save you money on a good quality TV made by a brand with a reputation. Brands like Apex that exploit every cost saving measure both legal and apparently illegal, or recently made legal by new global trade friendly arrangements, feed a junk obsessed bargain-culture that hurts the consumer electronics industry as a whole.

The Apex style junk culture, fed by big box retailers like Wall-Mart is a consumer culture that emphasizes buying the latest gadget regardless of how poor the implementation. Its a short-sighted mindset that will have you heading back to Wall-Mart to buy another $40 DVD player in a handful of months. Its a little scary that someone would apply the same mindset to a purchase that will easily cost over $1000 for an Apex flat panel LCD display. This is a company with a long and horrible track record with the Better Business Bureau, with customers complaining of poor to nonexistent customer service, poor quality equipment, no return policy at the retailer and no satisfaction on defective equipment from the manufacturer.

Heres an alternative: simply do without for a time. Be patient and save the money you would spend on a low quality product made by a quick profit fly-by-night company with no interest in their reputation and keep saving until you have enough to buy a product from a trusted brand name. Names like Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Philips, Mitsubishi or Hitachi all participate in research and development -- their business is the manufacture and advancement of the technology itself.

Avoid companies like Apex whose business has less to do with electronics and more to do with finding loopholes permitted by the World Trade Organization so they can exploit the lowest cost measures possible to assemble pre-fabricated equipment that will sit in your living-room for a handful of months until you have to replace it.

Please recycle your old electronics.