ikan History

   ikan, an award-winning designer, manufacturer and distributor of video production support, provides media professionals with simplicity, affordability and unmatched value.  With a range of products including on camera HD monitors, LED and fluorescent studio lighting, teleprompters and a wide range of camera support equipment, ikan stands at the forefront of every aspect of the video equipment industry. 

   ikan is the brain child of its owner and CEO, Kan Yeung.  The ikan dream started in 1973, when an 18 year old Kan Yeung leaves his native Hong Kong and sets out for a new life in the United States.  With only a guitar, a typewriter and five hundred dollars, Kan sets a course for Texas to begin his American experience.

   After graduating with a double major from the University of Houston and working for several companies including NASA, Kan strikes out on his own, and in 1983, he opens what would become ikan's parent company, Microsearch.  At the time, Microsearch merely sold computers.  The first years were a struggle, but Kan weathered the storm.

      It would be a new computer from Commodore that would change everything.  The Amiga multi-media computer, originally designed for gaming, proves to be a quantum leap above any other system on the market.  The graphics processor delivers 4096 colors at once.  Impressive considering Apple and IBM could only produce one or two colors at best. 

   Sales explode, propelling MicroSearch to rock star status.  People literally wait in lines running around the block just to see a demonstration of this amazing machine.   Kan's biggest problem now is maintaining inventory, as the Amigas fly off the shelves.  MicroSearch expands its size from 1500 square feet to 8000 square feet, and increases its staff of one to ten. 

   Amiga quickly becomes the favorite of graphic artists and animators alike.  The only problem with Amiga is its lack of software and applications.  Because Kan knows his customers very well, he also knows many of them write their own programs.  Keen on the principle of supply and demand, Kan moves to fill this need by combining the talents of his customers with his powers of distribution to sell his own line of software for the Amiga. 

   In 1986, MicroSearch releases its first program, CITY DESK, one of the very first desktop publishing programs on the market.  Consumer demand for software is so high, it's not long before Kan is sought out by customers from all over.  Based on the success of CITY DESK, Kan develops more programs including gaming software and even a program for music production.   

   Consumers aren't the only ones clambering for Kan's attention.  Soon Hollywood comes calling too.  In 1989, a production entitled Robocop comes to Houston to shoot exteriors.  The film's producer in charge of special effects found MicroSearch.  Standard operating procedure when shooting on location is to return to Hollywood for the postproduction.  Kan's proposal, "Why pay more when you can do it here faster and cheaper?"  It was a happy marriage.  Kan supplied the hardware and the manpower, and in turn MicroSearch received publicity via the film's release.  For the first time, a film is shot and produced on location in Houston. 

   Just when it seems like there would be no limit, Commodore stops production on the Amiga and files for bankruptcy.  This one event stops shy of putting Kan out of business completely. 

   Because of his successful venture with the entertainment industry, Kan turns his focus to selling computer systems and hardware for video production.  Among other camera accessories, Kan begins selling small, portable monitors for camera operators.  Kan becomes curious about these camera monitors and after a little research, he realizes they are ridiculously over priced.  While visiting relatives in Hong Kong, Kan locates the parts to make one of these monitors and soon realizes he can make them better and sell them for less. 

   In 2005, Kan begins selling the monitors locally, and it becomes clear he is sitting on a real opportunity to bring his product to the world.  Kan calls his new company, ikan.  ikan begins humbly with only one monitor, the V7000; soon he adds more models to his line. 

   Finally in 2007, Kan engineers his very first high definition monitor, the V8000HD an eight inch, high definition monitor with built in DV battery power.  

   In 2008, ikan continues to expand its line of products to include lights, grip equipment as well as replacement for the V8000HD, the V8000HDMI.  The same year, ikan releases the very first monitor combined with a camera LANC controller, the ikan Director, winner of the 2008 "Viddy" award. 

  In 2009, the video industry is shaken up by the introduction of HDSLRs which are still cameras that also shoot high definition video.  Suddenly, everyone is dumping their standard video cameras for these HDSLRS and with it they are getting rid of their heavy and expensive accessories for lighter and more inexpensive ones.  ikan responds to this shift in the market with the ikan V5600, 5.6 inch HD monitor, the perfect size and weight for the HDSLR shooter.  By the end of the year, ikan triples its annual sales and sets its sights on 2010. 

   This year, ikan unleashes a legion of new products beginning with its long awaited VX9 and VX7 HD-SDI monitors that for the first time give you every video input in the industry.  Next, ikan releases its new line of camera support, the ikan elements giving people the freedom mount their ikan monitor or light or anything they can imagine to their camera without the weight or expense of a full sized rail system. 

   Finally, ikan debuts two new lights to its family of set lighting, the LED Box and the iLED 500.  The iLED 500 features five hundred dimmable LED lights and comes with barn doors and a moveable detachable stand adapter.  The LED Box is the perfect ENG-style light for event photographers.  Both can be powered wirelessly, and both can be powered by remote control.  

   With all its success, ikan is a shinning example for all that the American dream is still alive and well.   As much as the company has changed from those early days, much has remained the same, as ikan continues its mission to provide innovative, quality production equipment at an affordable price.