Flextronics International Ltd. has purchased a majority stake in California's Frog Design Inc., boosting its new product capabilities while giving Frog's designers greater understanding of what molders can do.
``If we can get inside and look at the factory floor and understand it, we can push the boundaries of what we can do,'' Frog's communications director, Mick Malisic, said in a Dec. 14 phone interview.
Neither Frog nor Flextronics, incorporated in Singapore with North American offices in San Jose, Calif., disclosed how much Flextronics invested or how big of a share of Frog it purchased.
Electronic equipment specialist Flextronics has invested in design expertise previously, with its 2000 purchase of Palo Alto Products International Pte. Ltd. It has helped to design various products, including handheld computers and mobile telephone equipment, monitors and computer towers. With injection molding, metal stamping, mold making and assembly operations under its global roof, Flextronics has mastered a variety of manufacturing processes, Malisic said.
Sunnyvale-based Frog has worked on products such as the Sony Triniton television, the Apple IIC computer and the exterior of Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Magic cruise ship. The firm employs 170 at four U.S. studios and one in Germany.
Frog retains independence under Flextronics and continues to work with customers that use their own manufacturing operations.