ABKO / ABKONCORE

 BTW from now on I would translate some namuwiki page for computer parts only. I do not deal with KPop articles unless if they're related to PC parts. Some grammars are fixed, and I used google translate. Namu wiki's work is available under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 KR . (However, except for some documents and illustrations for which the license is specified)

https://namu.wiki/w/ABKO

• Founded: July 11, 2001
• Disbanded: nope
• Website: http://www.abko.co.kr/ (KOREA) https://abkoglobal.com/ (INTERNATIONAL)
• CEO: Oh Kwang-geun (오광근)

1. OVERVIEW

Past slogan is "Graphic card maker Absolute Korea". It's not used anymore because they have stopped selling GPU under their brand (ABSOLUTE Steeler, Baxter series)

Abko Co., Ltd. (Absolute Korea) is a small and medium- sized business that manufactures, wholesales and retails computer parts and peripherals, and trades . It acquired Encore Infotech, which succeeded CorenSI (the company that made the famous Cheongung), and transferred Daotech services. It distributes and sells graphics cards, motherboards, PC cases (NCORE Voltron, Icarus, etc.), case fans, keyboards (HACKER series), mice, and PC headsets.

2. HISTORY

ABKO's past name (brand name) was Absolute. The first few months were peripheral device manufacturing as it is now, but immediately it was graphics card OEM of 3D Power Korea, the Korean branch of 3DPOWER in the UK.[4][5][6 (note the font is similar to early ABSOLUTE brand GPU][7] Except for other business division, the graphics card business division was taken over and finished products and graphics card manufacturing divisions were acquired. In addition, it had its own PSU lineup in the form of an OEM manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the famous explosive PSU "Cheongung" manufacturer, CoreNSI, went bankrupt due to the Cheongung incident, and the remaining employees were replaced by a successor named Encore Infotech , which succeeded the case lineup excluding the power supply. After that incident, Absolute Korea Co., Ltd. and Encore Infotech Co., Ltd. was merged and the name was changed to the current ABKO Co., Ltd. After that, Absolute, which changed its name to 'ABKO', almost gave up on hardware distribution, which was its main business, and switched business direction to PC case, which was Encore Infotech's main business. . On December 2, 2020, the company was listed on the KOSDAQ market of the Korea Exchange .

3. LINEUP

General mouse, gaming mouse, headset, speaker, earphone, membrane keyboard and plunger keyboard keyboard & mouse set, and mechanical and non-contact keyboards are all consigned, and computer cases are separately classified and produced. As such, it can be viewed as a company specializing in computer peripherals, but it is being classified as a general electronics company as it is expanding its business to home appliances such as air purifiers, bathroom cleaners, massage guns, and washing machines. Because of many products, products that have been produced for more than 1 or 2 years are sold.

Abko, which is the main brand, mainly sells office equipment and general goods. Hacker brand are for gaming gear, and Oella is household appliances such as vacuum cleaners and massagers, Bitonic deals with audio devices such as Bluetooth earphones and speakers, Encore and Suitmaster deal with PC cases, and COX deals with gaming gear, but unlike Hacker series, it is not a brand of Abko, but a subsidiary concept. (But the location is the same) The corporate name (and also international expansion brand, will be talked later.) is Abkoncore. Competitors from ROK that deals internationally are: ZALMAN, and WIZMAX MICRONICS

3.1. POWER SUPPLY

It was known as a manufacturer of Cheongung, but in fact, strictly speaking, ABKO does not mean Cheongung. The manufacturer of Cheongung was a company called Core, and ABKO, which was an Absolute at that time, had its own PSU lineup. Of course, several Absolute PSU are comparable to those of Cheongung, but only the low-end models such as Super Power and Thousand and One Nights were available, however the high-end models like the Formula Series is actually FSP OEM. Then, when Absolute merged with Encore Infotech, Cheongung was included in its lineup, which led to the perception that Abco is Cheongung. However, the Formula series, which was a useful product, was a rather expensive product, and the concept of "true rated" / "pure" PSU was rare, so it did not sell well due to the high price. Well, it was until 2016 where they released a new PSU model. Some of their products are available internationally but not as Abko / Suitmaster, instead it's Abkoncore.

• TENERGY 80 PLUS / TN: Andyson OEM. It is an 80-plus gold product in AS7, and it is a good platform base. The reason it is a good platform is because it is a platform created by copying the platform of Seasonic Focus Gold when Andyson developed the platform. If you look at the picture of the board, even the location of the parts is the same. Performance is proven. (Internationally available)
• AWESOME 80 PLUS SILVER: Andyson OEM. Korean only.
• ULTIMATE 80 PLUS PLATINUM: Andyson OEM. Andison R Platinum OEM product. As-is with the Andyson made ones. Available in RGB and non-RGB. Korean only.
• MIGHTY SERIES / MT: It was confirmed that the power supply of the brand called Suitmaster was registered in Danawa . Which means ABKO is going to enter the PSU market again. There is a significant gap in the power supply market, and Suitmaster is not a Ncore brand. Judging from the fact that it was released as a standalone brand, it is still a product that has the potential to be active as a price to performance contenders. Unsurprisingly, the pilgrimage to the Cheongung PSU Danawa comment section, which was interrupted after the closing of the Cheongung bulletin board, resumed after nearly three years, and the Danawa bulletin board is overflowing with mockery comments such as "Cheongung" and "Pong" (means explosion).
  
  People even asked for the manufacturer, but the original manufacturer was not informed because the supplier did not want it. But by looking the safety certification information that was released, it was clear that it was HKC OEM, but it is not surprising that they are being cursed for being a hoax. In Abko's words, Anderson claims to use HKC products from Antec (...), but Anderson only has four factories, and Antec also used CWT if they used low-cost CWT, but HKC has never been used in publicly available data.
  Quasar Zone did a test towards 10 units of ABKO MIGHTY 230V EU 700W, (10 of the units bought randomly at random shop) surprisingly stable results were obtained. , Contrary to the belief before the release (due to Cheongung), it doesn't explode after release, and the actual performance itself is quite good, but when compared to the Micronics Classic II series, which is famous for its cost-effectiveness, there is almost no difference or it is rather expensive at an ambiguous price. For this reason, compared to Micronics, etc. in the low-end PSU lineup, it is evaluated that there is not much merit in the reliability or cost-effectiveness of the company.
  
  Although it seems to be a good product in the comments of the Quasar Zone forum above, it has no price advantage compared to its competitors and lacks the reliability of the company, so the majority of opinions are to buy a product from another manufacturer. In the case of power supplies, consumers are most affected by how well the company has produced without any problems, and famous power manufacturers such as Super Flower are also avoiding a lot after problems with some products. Given the bad frame of Abko + Cheongung , it seems that considerable effort will be required to renew the image. In fact, if you think that the employees of the company that made Cheongung joined the company and made it, you are reluctant to buy it. (Internationally available)

4. PAST LINEUPS

Graphic cards. The first product was the GeForce 2 MX200. He also signed an OEM contract with HIS in Hong Kong, and was also a Korea's distributor of HIS before moving to Zalman Tech. In addition, it was a distributor of numerous graphic card brands such as Zalman, Baxter, and Steeler. Currently, it is distributing Leadtek's Quadro product line with Reader's Systems, but it seems to have been deprived of the Quadro/Titan exclusive distributor right from the Volta days. Currently, the Quadro RTX lineup is not imported by Abko. As of 2019, it was largely forgotten from people's memory because it did not distribute graphic cards, but it was the flagship product of the Absolute Korea days. Until early 2010, Apco 's catchphrase was a famous graphic card company. But not anymore.

Motherboard. At the time of the transition from Absolute Korea to Abko, BIOSTAR are sold under the GTM brand. As Absolute Korea took over Encore, it changed its main business from parts distribution to peripheral devices, so it was no longer released.

5. INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

According to their global website, ABKONCORE has been sold in 50 countries. Indonesia is one of them (distributor is PT. ENLIGHT)

6. INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY

Abkoncore Ramesses 780 (the case is definition of only fans). Zero airflow, too many fans. Basically a sarcophagus. Ideal as house heater if paired with FX 9590 / i9 13900k and GTX 480 / RTX 4090 Reviewed by Gamers Nexus