Baofeng changes name to Pofung

Baofeng is pronounced 'Po-fung'... so they changed the spelling of the name to encourage English speakers to say it correctly. I'm told that the name, by the way, roughly translated means 'Storm wind'.

I read a story, no idea if it is true... that when Hyundai got a distributor in the US, he kept referring to them as "HUN-day." The chairman of Hyundai said, "we pronounce it cHOON-die." But when they asked the US distributor how many cars he thought he could move. The answer was 200,000 in the first year. The chairman of Hyundai said, "For that, you can pronounce it however you want."

I just used my Baofeng UV-3R+ to talk to a couple people over the SO-50 satellite. Whatever it's called, it was money well spent.

73, Kevin N4UFO

 

Companies are run by people, and it's people who make these decisions. Sometimes they blow it. On purpose.

The telecom handset and copier maker Kyocera insists that the US call it Key O Sarah. However, the name is a portmanteau of Kyoto Ceramic, so the correct way to say it is derived from those two words. Kyo Sera, it's very simple and there is no ambiguity. Except that the company chooses to use the wrong pronunciation.

 

I wonder if the reason some people are posting negative comments is because they purchased radios that
cost 4x the price to achieve the same functionality?

I'd rather spend the saved money on improving my HF/6m station

Like it or not these low cost radios help a lot of new hams get on the air when they otherwise couldn't.
And that is very important.

All that aside, I don't care for the name change

 

I think it's bad to change the name now..
I just recently purchased two 144/220 UV-8X HT's or whatever they are..
Now I just ordered a 144/440 HT. So two radios matching battery's and chargers .
No matter, they work great, just need a 6 meter HT and a real working S' Meter.

I would rather have a radio with the name Baofeng on top it then.... Pofung
The waitress would see it from a distance she'd" say whats that say Potang ?
No miss it's pofung now (So is that a toe fungus Sir)
Clearly Baofeng sounds strong like a wolf in the wild" Bao' Fang
How about Pofang ? Po (as in police) (Fang as in teeth)
73's

 

Pofung yourself, I'm an Icom guy!

 

Hmmmm....I don't think the name change will get me to buy one. Baofeng, Pofung, Wooshoo...no thanks.

 

US poor pronunciations

Reminds me of my 5 year stay in IL.

Poor sods couldn't pronounce Hyundai (Hun Day) or Basil (Bay Zul) Dollar (daller) and far too may to mention here

I did try to teach proper English to them while I was there, but gave up in the end and became a TEFL in Vietnam ...much more successful !

Anyhoo 73s de Bill (M6RGX)

 

Yes we are.

Nother marketing mess in my opinion is Sony with their VAIO and CLIE. How do you pronounce those?

I think it is a BIG mistake to name any company, person, place, or thing with a word that is difficult to spell or pronounce.

I even have a hard time with TOM. And SUE has just got to go!

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Everybody Wang Chung Tonight...

We still have a lot of folks here who pronounce it, "High-YOON-Dye-ee."

 

Back in the 70's, General Motors observed the poor sales of the Chevrolet Nova in Latin American markets. Someone finally noticed that the English pronounced word, "Nova" was very close to the Spanish words "No Via" which literally translates to "No Go." Oops!

 

Problem might be that you speak English and not American. I have the same problem when I travel in the southern US

 

It is perfectly normal that English educated and speaking folks have difficulty pronouncing unfamiliar word in another language.
The real issue, at lest for me, is that after being repeatedly told how to pronounce such strange word, as my name, majority continue to mispronounce it as if it was an English word.
I can live with Viklaf , but draw a line when they call me “Bob”.
The day is coming when I will start using my QRZ name on the air.
73 Shirley

 

It mean you buy Chicom Radio now! Yu wan egg loll wit dat misser?

 

Literal translation to what language? Last time I looked Pofung was not an acceptable Scrabble word

 

It's not quite that easy... I have a Baofeng UV-3R MkII and a UV-5R. Whereas both are incredible values for the money, they do lack quick a bit of functionality that can be found in the Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu HTs. Namely: easier programming/ergonomics, programming cables that don't have counterfeit Prolific chips, scan skip capability, memory grouping, programmable VFO search range, a squelch control setting that actually works, and an S-meter that actually works. Sure, I'd rather see the new ham choose to spend more of his budget on an HF or mobile setup, and less on an HT. But for the ham who can afford it, he really is short-changing himself if he's never able to enjoy the HT offerings from "The Big 3".