Reviving a classic: Radio redesign
An innovative designer rethinks an old standby.
(Fortune Small Business) -- Innovative technology and eye-catching product design have always been a priority for Etón, the exclusive North American licensee for Grundig shortwave radios.
Founded in 1986, the Palo Alto company introduced compact shortwave radios that combined access to numerous bands with such user-friendly details as digital displays. By 2005 Etón had teamed up with Porsche Design Studio in Stuttgart, Germany to develop several new products with high-profile partners XM, Sirius (SIRI) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). But one product category remained ripe for reinvention: the emergency crank radio.
"We were excited by the opportunity to create a new paradigm," says Dan Harden, 49, principal of Whipsaw Design, the San Jose firm that Etón chose for the job after a yearlong search. Etón's total investment in the project, including payment to Whipsaw, plus Etón's expenses to educate its team about the new product line and bring it to market, exceeded "hundreds of thousands of dollars," estimates Etón founder and CEO Esmail Amid-Hozour, 62.
The outlay seems to have paid off. The radios have received six design awards, including an Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology Award from the International Consumer Electronics Show. Amid-Hozour won't disclose sales figures, but he forecasts that revenue for this product segment, which includes the Solarlink FR500 ($80) and Voicelink FR1000 ($150) emergency crank radios, will increase by 30% in 2009 and double in the next three to five years.
See the redesign: Photo gallery 
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