I was reminded of this event when writing an article the other day. Could it really have been five years ago?
In the winter of 2015, Wilson Electronics undertook the biggest change in its history. For over a decade, the company had produced cellular signal boosters. They were known as the more industrial-quality models. You could get all the parts separately and build just what you wanted. In 2014, the company had bought one of its competitors, zBoost. zBoost was known for its easy-to-install kits which used consumer-grade cable. For a year, we all waited to see how the two companies would work together.
The coming of weBoost
Wilson rebranded its consumer line as weBoost and came out to the world at the 2015 CES. The name was a clever mix of the zBoost name, the initials “w.e.” for Wilson Electronics, and a description of what their products did. (We Boost your signal.) It was a smart marketing move and it echoes the smart marketing move made in the way the products were packaged.
Here’s one of Wilson’s products from before their rebranding. It was sold in a plain brown box.
Here’s one of weBoost’s products that is similar to that one.
The new product was about the same size, but repackaged with everything you’d need in a nice, retail box. More importantly, there was no more need to manually adjust the power levels of the booster. This made installation a lot easier.
The initial reactions
Shortly after the 2015 CES, demand for weBoost products skyrocketed. The only problem we had back in those days was keeping them in stock. The company started a climb to the top which continues to this day. Its easy-to-install boosters keep getting easier. The design continues to evolve to be more stylish.
This was Wilson’s top-line amplifer back in the day:
This is its stylish and easy-to-install replacement:
I think we can all agree that one’s a little nicer than the other.
The next 5 years
I’m hoping that the next five years will see people becoming more and more aware for the need for cell boosters. 5G is coming, and that will actually increase the need for cell boosters. People will want the best possible signal in order to get the best possible speed. I expect that weBoost will deliver even better and more powerful boosters as years go on.
I just don’t know how they can do much better than they have now. With 20 years of industrial design and 5 years of solid good looks behind them, what could be next?
