We have seen or used proprietary products more than once in our lifetime. These are the products that can only work with a specific device. Countless people use the products and never think why this disc only works with this media player, or why this program works with only this brand of computer? This article will delve into the advantages many companies have with the use of proprietary products..

Proprietary is defined as a product, object or idea exclusively owned by someone. It is usually covered by a patent, which makes it exclusive and cannot be used by outside parties without discussion or permissions for its use. A simpler description is it is privately owned and cannot be duplicated.

As mentioned earlier proprietary products bring various degrees of advantages for manufacturers. One such benefit is the role of quality control as it applies to the creation of products. When manufacturers are able to control the various steps in the creation of their product, they are able to ensure the best quality possible. This is very important if a company prides itself on excellent quality products. Sony is the perfect example of this. They have created entire product lines that rely on their own proprietary products. This is extremely beneficial to Sony as they are able to ensure that the products created are the best quality as they are the only ones making it. An example is the creation of their Memory Stick Duo line of memory cards. Aside from creating the product themselves, they have granted exclusive licenses to manufacturers who they believe can uphold the quality that Sony has become to be known by.

The creation of proprietary products by companies leads to the big advantage that cannot be ignored, that of large profits. We focus on Fuji as one of the market leaders for countless digital cameras. They have a hand in almost every section of the popular digital camera market. This is a very big advantage to keep profits within the company by having their devices work with only their products. Fuji cameras all and only use the xD Picture Card. There are many memory cards on the market such as secure digital memory, but with Fuji devices having proprietary, only xD picture cards can be used in their products. This is an additional cash resource for any company. There are some companies that make more money from these proprietary products than the actual devices that use them.

The benefits of proprietary products are two fold for manufacturers. The benefits of revenue and quality control are something that the use of proprietary products offer. With control over quality, manufactures are assured that they are getting the best product possible. With the control and development of products that use proprietary goods it opens up an unrestricted revenue base. One that can change the financial fortunes of companies. This can be seen with companies such as Sony with its Memory Stick Duo [http://www.memory-monster.com/memory_stick_duo_pro.htm] product and Fuji with their xD Picture Card.