If you’re familiar with the Anker name, chances are fairly good that you know the company for its accessories for computers and mobile devices, especially chargers. Over the years, the company has been steadily growing, and to reflect that change it recently announced a restructuring that sees it breaking out into five sub-brands under the umbrella of a new name, Anker Innovations. Eric Villines, the new company’s head of global communications, sat down with Digital Trends to discuss what this will mean moving forward.
The new company still keeps Anker as its heritage brand, with four others — Eufy, Roav, Nebula, and Zolo — each having its own specific focus. While these brands focus on a variety of different products, from audio, to in-car, to smart home, Villines says that many of these products and product lines will still incorporate the charging capabilities that the Anker name is known for.
“Anker is still a big part of our DNA,” Villines told Digital Trends. “While I’ve been here at CES, it’s been amazing when people come up to you every day and they pull [Anker products] out of their bag and they say ‘this is amazing, this is a lifesaver,’ and it’s this sort of perfunctory product that we all carry along, and you think, ‘Man, how do you create a brand around something that is ubiquitous?'”
In starting the new product lines, Anker’s CEO felt that the different brand names would allow the teams to innovate faster without the pressure of a name immediately familiar to customers for a certain type of product. “I think the name was just an opportunity that they could come in and have a sense of identity that was their own,” Villines sais.
While Anker products were previously typically only found at online retailers, particularly Amazon, Anker Innovations products will now be found in retailers like Walmart as well. For a look at some of the new products the company introduced at CES, make sure to check out the video above, and for more details on the new brands and the types of products each sells, see the company’s website.
