Twelve South

Twelve South
Founded 2009[1]
Number of employees
 12[1]
Website twelvesouth.com

Twelve South is a company which produces accessories and cases, including HiRise, exclusively for use with Apple Inc products.

Operation

The company currently employs a small team of workers (fewer than 12) [1] and aims to design, produce and manufacture 12 new accessories for Apple products every year. The company was set up in 2009 by Andrew Green and his wife Leigh Ann Green [2] in South Carolina.[3]

Relationship with Apple

In June 2012 Forbes suggested that Apple should buy both Twelve South and another Apple accessory company called Mophie not because of the profits of the two companies but rather that the excellent products that these companies make increase the net worth of Apple because the products they produce stand out above the competition available for Apple's competitors products.[4]

Twelve South produces a range of products which are available for different products within the Apple Product line up, many of these are very popular and given excellent reviews.[5]

Products

Twelve South Product Compatibility Chart[6][7]
Twelve South Product [1] Apple Product [1]
iMac MacBook Air MacBook Pro MacBook Pro with Retina Display iPad iPad Mini iPhone 4/4S iPhone 5 iPhone 5C [8] iPhone 5S [9]
HiRise Range [10][11] Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick
BookArc Range [11] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X
BookBook Cases [11] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick
SurfacePad Range [11] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Green tick Green tick Red X Green tick
PlugBug [11] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick
PlugBug World [11] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick
BaseJump 2 Subwoofer [12] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X
MagicWand [12] Green tick Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X
BackPack [12] Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X
Compass [11] Red X Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X
GhostStand [13] Red X Green tick Green tick Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X
HoverBar [11] Green tick Red X Red X Red X Green tick Red X Red X Red X Red X Red X

Table note
1. Where Range within the table is stated it indicates that there are several distinct designs for different functionality and compatibility of products however they still fall under the same name. 2. Some of the companies products such as the SurfacePad for MacBook's has undergone several revamps over the products lifetime, some of these revamps are just to suit new Apple MacBook designs and others were to enhance the quality of the product that was produced.[14]

Many of these products are available in stores worldwide such as The Apple Store and on a variety of international websites including Amazon.com,[15] and Apple's online store.[16]

Criticism

Some of Twelve South's products have faced criticism over the fact that they can be very hard to put together due to the companies dedication to making the packaging as small as possible to reduce damage to the environment often makes the product difficult to assemble often requiring several very fiddly screws causing frustration among many customers.[17] One reviewer on Twitter went so far as to throw his HiRise for iPhone and iPad Mini in the bin because of how difficult it was to assemble and as a result got scratched in the process of assembling it.[18]

There are also other reviews and customers who argue that the company charges very high prices for their products which in essence are very simple products constructed mainly out of aluminium with very few moving parts. However others state that although the products are simple they are finished to exceptional standards and their prices are not very far off the prices of similar accessories that are not anywhere near as simple and look a lot cheaper to produce.[19]

Much of the criticism of some of Twelve South's products has been reduced by the fact that the products are very flexible and will be usable even with a variety of products and cases on the products, one such example of this is the HiRise for iPhone and iPad Mini which will work with an iPhone 5 or iPad Mini without any case up to cases including those that are waterproof. This feature thus increases the value of the product as it increases the products life time and will allow it to be used regardless of what case you put the relevant Apple product in.[20]

Reviews

Most reviews of Twelve South's products tend to give a generally positive review but with several criticisms given normally on time and effort to assemble to product and / or the price.[21]

In response to some of the reviews saying how hard the companies products are to put together, Twelve South have put videos showing how to assemble some of their products to assist both reviewers and customers in assembling their products. Twelve South have uploaded these videos to YouTube onto the Twelve South channel.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About". Twelve South. 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  2. ↑ "The Twelve South story featured in Kiplinger's Magazine « Twelve South Blog". Blog.twelvesouth.com. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  3. ↑ Murph, Darren (2012-05-23). "Opening the Book(Book) on Twelve South: between the covers of a Mac-exclusive accessory maker". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  4. ↑ "These Two Companies Increase Apple's Net Worth". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  5. ↑ "Twelve South Announces The HiRise, An Elegant Stand For iPhone 5 And iPad Mini". Cult of Mac. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  6. ↑ "Twelve South Product Compatibility Chart". Twelve South. August 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  7. ↑ Product Compatibility http://twelvesouth.com/products/
  8. ↑ http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-5c/
  9. ↑ http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone-5s/
  10. ↑ "HiRise for MacBook - HiRise for MacBook". Twelve South. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 http://store.apple.com/uk/search/twelve-south#!
  12. 1 2 3 http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=Twelve%20South&index=computers&search-type=ss
  13. ↑ http://twelvesouth.com/products/ghoststand/
  14. ↑ http://blog.twelvesouth.com/category/surfacepad_macbook/
  15. ↑ "Twelve South @". Amazon.com. 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  16. ↑ "twelve south - Apple Store (UK)". Store.apple.com. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  17. ↑ "Review: Twelve South HiRise stand for iPhone 5, iPad mini". 9to5Mac. 2013-08-11. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  18. ↑ "Twitter / AleksIvic: @twelvesouth that's where". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  19. ↑ "Twelve South Releases Adjustable HiRise Stand for iPhone 5 and iPad Mini". Mac Rumors. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  20. ↑ "Twelve South HiRise stand stylishly charges iPhone 5 and iPad mini". iMore. 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  21. ↑ "Reviews: Twelve South HiRise for iPhone". iLounge. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  22. ↑ "Twelve South". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-08-27.

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