FOCUS
22
FORTUNE.COM // APR.1.19
TECH
Google Assistant, the voice-activated helper
that recites information on command. It’s
an example of Simplehuman jumping on the
latest tech bandwagon, popularized by smart
speakers like Amazon Echo, while keeping true
to its design philosophy.
Yang started Simplehuman 19 years ago with
a $200,000 loan from his father, a Taiwanese
immigrant who founded a company that makes
storage units. “I worked with him for four
years, and I got so bored,’” Yang says.
Unenthused by the idea of simply mocking
up a new product and sending it to a factory
in Asia to fabricate, as some of his competitors
do, Yang builds his own prototypes. His com-
pany has owned 3D printers since 2013 and a
circuit-board printer since 2016. Even now, he
gets giddy when he walks by it.
“It’s the same game as the iPhone,” Yang
says. “How do you put in a more powerful bat-
tery? You have to make other stuff smaller, and
then the end product can be smaller, or”—he
smiles—“you can make it do more things.”
IN THE BACK OF A BIG WAREHOUSE in Torrance, Calif., engineers at
home-essentials maker Simplehuman are putting the company’s
voice-activated trash can through its paces. The goal: to test the
reliability of its voice-recognition technology by subjecting it to a
sonic pummeling.
Every 10 seconds, hour after hour, a robotic voice from a
speaker repeats, “Open can.” And every 10 seconds, hour after
hour, the lids on a quartet of trash cans, arranged in a square in
the middle of the room, open and close. A camera records video so
that engineers can analyze any hiccups.
“If we start talking really loud, I bet one of them might fail,”
Simplehuman CEO Frank Yang says coyly.
Simplehuman, described by some as the Apple of housewares
for its sleek soap dispensers, high-tech mirrors, and dish racks,
has attracted a devoted customer base. Last year its revenue grew
15% to more than $200 million, the company says.
Simplehuman’s rise comes despite stiff competition in the
market for kitchen and bathroom products. Rubbermaid and
Hamilton Beach produce cheaper trash cans, for instance, while
Conair and iHome also churn out tech-enhanced mirrors.
But Joe Derochowski, an analyst for market research firm
NPD Group, says what sets Simplehuman apart is the little extra
it adds to its products. Higher-end home essentials, not cheaper
products, accounted for nearly all of the 5.9% growth in the
$26.7 billion housewares market last year.
“They’re an example of how you can take something simple
like a mirror or a garbage can, innovate it, pair it with some
great marketing, and do really well,” says Derochowski.
Simplehuman’s slogan is “Tools for efficient living,” and last
spring, Yang and his staff of 100 finished moving into what he
calls a “tool for building innovative products.” It’s an open-plan of-
fice with an indoor basketball court (Yang shoots hoops when he’s
stressed) and labs where Simplehuman tests and tweaks products.
Around the corner from the opening and closing trash cans is a
quiet booth with foam-padded walls. Yang opens the door, and Ed
Sheeran’s “Shape of You” comes blasting out.
Two technicians are testing the speaker attached to Simple-
human’s latest product, a hi-fi mirror that debuts this April. It’s
optimized for applying makeup, with 5x magnification, different
lighting options (cool for daytime, warm for evening), and—here’s
that added consumer benefit—a base equipped with a Bluetooth
speaker that a Grammy-winning artist like Sheeran would prob-
ably find up to snuff.
“I’m a bit of an audiophile,” says Yang. “We’ve gone through 21
iterations of sound profiling—after 17, it started sounding okay.”
Simplehuman’s staff spent more than 8,000 hours developing
the mirror and its illuminated ring so that light is evenly distrib-
uted around its circumference. It brightens with the touch of a fin-
ger rather than the flick of a switch, and in another room, there’s
a microscope-like device that projects lines onto the mirror’s
surface to make sure it reflects like a mirror should: If the lines are
straight, the mirror’s good; if they’re curved, it’s not.
A second version of the mirror, on sale in May, comes with
Simplehuman, led by founder and CEO Frank Yang,
is sometimes called the Apple of housewares for
its sleekly designed products.
