Company Introduction
ILLEGEAR is Malaysia’s first custom laptop brand established in 2011. The brand was conceived when founder Chin Jiun How was searching for a laptop himself. He realised mainstream laptops available at the time could not provide the processing power needed for extreme use such as gaming or content editing. Unable to find the laptop he wanted, Chin wondered, “What if I build it myself?”, and ILLEGEAR was born.The ILLEGEAR brand is pillared by the belief that there is only one way to meet a discerning user’s every expectation perfectly - through customisation.
Brand Elements
ILLEGEAR is positioned as a premium custom computer brand catered towards extreme users such as gamers, professionals and creative content creators. As the company grew, this positioning has been expanded to include a wider market and more product categories. However, the fundamentals of catering towards premium extreme users remain.The brand communicates with its audience primarily through two mediums — one being ILLEGEAR’s physical Concept Showrooms and the other being a variety of digital platforms such as social media and website.
ILLEGEAR’s Concept Showrooms are the main touchpoint where the customers can physically interact with the brand. It is where customers can view, touch, feel and test ILLEGEAR’s products and acquire important information to inform their purchase decisions.
It is also at the Concept Showrooms where customers can communicate with ILLEGEAR’s staff members who are trained to provide professional service and orientate customers about the brand and its products.
The main company website, illegear.com serves as the digital home base where customers can digitally interact with the brand. ILLEGEAR also has a sizable and fast-growing social media presence, with over 70,000 followers on Facebook and over 18,000 on Instagram.
Good. Better. Best. But how do you go beyond best? One word - Customisation
While we are proud of the accolades we have won, we believe we only truly win when our customers win. Whether it is in gaming, personal or professional pursuits, it is ultimately about our customers getting exactly what they expect from our products.
Company’s Brand Story
ILLEGEAR’s journey as a brand started with a young man, equipped with nothing more than a dream. Before there was ILLEGEAR, there was only a band of hardware junkies, computer geeks, hardcore gamers and everything in between. These individuals shared a common passion for high-performance computing, and it was this passion that informed their actions, allowing them to understand extreme users better than anyone else can.Founded by a computer enthusiast who is familiar with the struggles of finding the perfect computer system, the ILLEGEAR story resonated deeply with the target audience. This unique connection that ILLEGEAR shares with its customers has allowed the brand to grow rapidly from their humble beginning as a gaming laptop startup in 2011 to a full-fledged customised high-performance laptop brand it is today.
The brand’s identity as an authentic computer enthusiast brand has not only earned the respect and trust of a growing community of gamers, but also an emerging group of high-end users such as designers, 3D modellers, video editors, multimedia content creators and creative professionals alike.
Achievements and Impact
ILLEGEAR is recognised as Malaysia’s No.1 custom laptop brand with over 95% positive customer reviews. The brand is also the undisputed winner of Lowyat.NET Community Choice Awards, bagging the prize for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.The growth of the ILLEGEAR brand aligns well with the company’s financial performance, with ILLEGEAR set for a record-breaking year as 2020 draws to a close. This has also allowed the company to rapidly expand its workforce, going from a staff headcount of 18 individuals in the beginning of 2020 to 37 individuals as of September 2020.
This growth has placed ILLEGEAR in a strong position to positively impact the local job market, especially in today’s uncertain economy where there are more jobs eliminated than created.
ILLEGEAR also takes this a step further by realigning its recruitment policy to provide priority consideration to candidates who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ILLEGEAR often plays a central role in local activities that bring the community closer together. ILLEGEAR regularly sponsors socially beneficial community events such as esports tournaments and conventions.
Future Direction
ILLEGEAR has set its sights on expanding its presence both locally and beyond Malaysia, with more branches established in other states as well as in neighbouring countries. Although the future direction of the brand is global, ILLEGEAR is determined to remain connected to its Malaysian roots. One of the founder’s vision for ILLEGEAR is for the brand to one day become a “Proudly Malaysian” brand that is loved locally, respected internationally.BRAND MILESTONES
