Newegg


Newegg Inc. is an American online retailer of items including computer hardware and consumer electronics. It is based in City of Industry, California. In 2016, Liaison Interactive, a Chinese technology company, acquired a majority stake in Newegg in an investment deal.

History

The company was founded by Fred Chang, a U.S. immigrant from Taiwan, in 2001. Chang was Newegg's chairman and CEO until August 1, 2008, when it was announced he would step down as CEO and chairman while remaining a member of the board of directors and executive committee. He was succeeded by Tally Liu. Chang also retained his position as President of Newegg's Chinese operations. In 2010, upon the departure of Liu, Chang took up his old role as CEO of the company.
In 2004, Newegg established , as a private-label reseller of computing and household products from many manufacturers.
In 2005, Newegg.com was named one of the Internet's Top 10 retailers by Internet Retailer Magazine, with 2004 sales revenue of just under $1 billion. Newegg.com grew an additional 30% in 2005, bringing annual sales to approximately $1.3 billion. Newegg launched NeweggMall.com in July 2008, Newegg.ca in October 2008, and NeweggBusiness.com in August 2009. In 2009, it was listed as on the Forbes America's Largest Private Companies list. It launched in 2010 and exceeded $2.5 billion in revenue that year. The company has more than 1,500 employees.
Newegg also sponsors technology industry events and PC game tournaments for titles including Counter-Strike, ' and '. Newegg had a monthly case mod contest in 2005 in which contestants submitted pictures, descriptions, and directions describing how to personalize their computers with esoteric appearances and functions.
In November 2016, Newegg announced a new checkout feature that lets Newegg.com customers choose to have their package held for pickup at one of more than 2,500 FedEx Corp. locations, including 1,800 FedEx retail stores.
In January 2017, Indiegogo and Newegg announced a partnership whereby Newegg provides select crowdfunding campaigns with social exposure; guidance on go-to-market and sales strategies; and assistance with order fulfillment, shipping and logistical options to help get their products into customers’ hands quickly and efficiently.
In May 2017, Newegg formally rolled out Newegg Logistics, designed to help B2C and B2B e-commerce sellers and other organizations streamline order fulfillment, shipment and returns.
On June 15, 2017 during London Tech Week, Newegg announced a plan to serve key parts of Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Once complete, the online retailer is expected to reach customers in a total of 50 countries. On November 2, 2017, the company announced key global milestones, including localized payment options, enhanced customer service and a greater product selection for its international customers.
In October 2017, Newegg unveiled Newegg Now, a weekly livestream featuring tech commentary and reviews, as well as time-sensitive deals available exclusively during each broadcast.
In early 2018, customers in the state of Connecticut were notified that Newegg had not collected state sales tax due on out of state purchases in the past three years. Newegg was given a choice of collecting such tax in the future or turning over customer information to the state's Department of Revenue Services, which would require customers to file a sales tax form for the past three years of purchases. Newegg chose to furnish the customer information, as Newegg did not have a physical presence in Connecticut, Newegg believed it did not need to collect state sales tax from the ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota. Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services later issued tax bills to these customers.
In September 2018, Newegg announced that malicious code had been placed on their servers for over a month, allowing hackers to access customers' credit card information.
In March 2019, esports entertainment company Allied Esports named Newegg a founding partner and the official e-commerce partner of the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
In June 2019, Newegg and Allied Esports co-hosted the Triple Crown Royale at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas. Participants competed in three popular titles: Apex Legends, Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The competition gave select members of the public the opportunity to compete against professional players from Counter Logic Gaming, including Marksman & Psalm from the CLG Fortnite team, and Emy & GooseBreeder from the CLG CS:GO Red team.
In January 2020, Counter Logic Gaming announced an expanded partnership with Newegg as CLG’s presenting partner and online technology retail partner for its North American League of Legends Championship Series team.
In May 2020, Newegg formally launched a to help its vendor partners maximize their reach within the Newegg platform.
In April 2020, Newegg announced , a staffing agency serving the logistics, manufacturing, clerical and supply chain management industries.
In June 2020, Newegg introduced the , an online configurator that lets customers configure and source all the components needed to build a custom PC.

Name

Traditionally, the egg is a symbol of birth and unlimited potential. The founders selected "Newegg" as the company name to signify new hope for e-commerce during a period when e-commerce businesses were struggling to survive. The company has no relation to the Egghead Software chain that was active from 1984 to 2001.

Initial public offering (IPO)

On September 28, 2009, Newegg Inc filed for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing stated that Newegg has been profitable every year since 2001 and generated sales of $2.1 billion in 2008. The company's largest outside shareholder is New York-based venture-capital firm Insight Venture Partners. The IPO was managed by JP Morgan, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Citi. In 2011, the company withdrew its registration for filing for an IPO, saying it would continue to explore alternative options for funding.

Counterfeit Intel processors

In March 2010, Newegg sold 300 counterfeit Intel Core i7-920 CPUs. The problem was first exposed by a member of the website HardOCP who posted on the site's forum about receiving the fake CPU. Newegg at first released a statement saying that the processors were "demo units", but later said that they discovered that the processors were actually counterfeit, and that the company was terminating its relationship with one supplier in response. The company offered replacement units to the customers who received counterfeit processors, while Intel stated that they had been made aware of the problem and were investigating as well.

Litigation

On February 10, 2010, Newegg was sued by three former employees accusing it of numerous labor and business abuses, such as violating "a slew of labor laws, overworking and abusing immigrant workers, and ordering employees to hack into competitors' computer systems". In an official statement denying the claims in the lawsuit, the company stated:

Patent troll cases

Newegg has become known as a company that fights "patent trolls."
In January 2013, Newegg won a victory over Soverain Software when the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the district court ruling in favour of Soverain and invalidated a shopping cart patent by citing prior art from 1984, CompuServe’s Electronic Mall. On January 13th, 2014, the Supreme Court refused Soverain Software's petition for writ of certiorari to rehear a January 2013 decision of the Court of Appeals, effectively ending Soverain's case.
In November 2013, Newegg lost a case in Texas against TQP Development over Newegg's use of https:// protocol mixing SSL and RC4. Whitfield Diffie and Ron Rivest, the inventors of public-key cryptography and RC4 encryption respectively, testified for Newegg.
On July 6, 2015, after 20 months of waiting, Newegg filed an extraordinary petition urging US District Judge Rodney Gilstrap to issue judgment so that they would be able to file an appeal. On July 15, 2015, Gilstrap ruled that Newegg doesn't infringe a patent belonging to TQP Development.

Awards

Newegg has been the recipient of various awards, including:
Ranking / detailsWhoWhen
Ranked #6 in Digital Commerce 360 Top 500 - Consumer Electronics CategoryDigital Commerce 3602020
Ranked #5 in Newsweek's Best Online Shops 2020 - Consumer ElectronicsNewsweek2020
Ranked #26 in Digital Commerce 360 2020 Top 500Digital Commerce 3602020
2020 Multichannel Merchant Top 3PL ProviderMultichannel Merchant2020
2019 Multiorders Most Popular Online MarketplacesMultiorders2019
Ranked #10 in TWICE Top 100TWICE2019
NCSA All-Star Award, Customer Service Organization of the Year – Large BusinessNational Customer Service Association2018
Named to Multichannel Merchant's 2018 list of top third-party logistics providersMultichannel Merchant2017
Ranked #107 in 2018 B2B E-Commerce 300B2B E-Commerce World2017
Ranked 21st in Internet Retailer's List of Top 100 Consumer Electronics E-retailersInternet Retailer2017
Ranked 12th Largest Consumer Electronic DealerTop 100 TWICE / Stevenson Company
Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Company in Los AngelesLos Angeles Business Journal
Ranked 18th Largest Consumer Electronic DealerTop 100 TWICE / Stevenson Company
Ranked #234 in Forbes Largest Private Companies in AmericaForbes10/28/2009
Ranked in Top 10 Largest Internet RetailersInternet Retailer8/6/2007
Top 100 CE RetailersTop 100 TWICE / Stevenson Company5/8/2006