30 Coolest Mobile Hardware Companies: 2019 Mobility 100
We round up the top vendors of smartphones, tablets and highly portable notebooks, along with makers of mobile device components and accessories.
Hardware Innovators
Enabling a mobile workforce with the right devices is a business necessity in 2019. Highly portable laptops are a must for a growing number of workers, as are smartphones and tablets that are outfitted for business use. Meanwhile, plenty of other industries, from manufacturing to retail to health care, are increasingly depending on mobile hardware. For solution providers, the landscape of mobile hardware vendors and devices is wide—not to mention the need to familiarize with component and accessory makers, as well. To offer a window into this space, we've assembled a list of the 30 coolest vendors in mobile hardware to know about right now.
Acer
Top Executive: Jason Chen, CEO
Headquarters: Taiwan
Acer's recent product launches have included the Swift 7 notebook, which stands out from the laptop pack with impressive portability. The Swift 7 weighs only 2 pounds and measures just 0.39 of an inch thick—while still remaining durable by using magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminum alloys for its exterior body.
AMD
Top Executive: Lisa Su, CEO
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
AMD's mobility push for 2019 has included the debut of new laptop CPUs—the Ryzen 3000 Series mobile processors—which include quad-core chips that run at up to 3.7GHz. AMD also recently launched new dual-core A-Series processors for Chromebooks that run at up to 2.7GHz.
Apple
Top Executive: Tim Cook, CEO
Headquarters: Cupertino, Calif.
Along with releasing the usual lineup of new iPhones, Apple has spent the past year updating its full portfolio of mobility-focused products—including long-awaited refreshes to devices such as the MacBook Air, iPad Mini and iPad Air. Apple also updated its MacBook Pro to offer enhanced performance and its iPad Pro to feature a larger display and support a new version of the Apple Pencil stylus.
ARM
Top Executive: Simon Segars, CEO
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Most leading smartphones, including Apple's iPhones and Samsung's Galaxy phones, leverage microprocessor designs from ARM, such as the Cortex-M and Cortex-A series. Advancements in ARM's microarchitecture have enabled 35-percent gains in performance for the Cortex-A76 CPU, the company said.
Asus
Top Executive: S.Y. Hsu and Samson Hu, Co-CEOs
Headquarters: Taiwan
Among the latest notebook additions in the Asus portfolio include the ZenBook Pro 15 and ZenBook Pro 14. Both feature the new "ScreenPad"—a touch screen that takes the place of the touch pad and offers touch-pad functionality, as well as serving functions as an app launcher and calculator.
Belkin
Top Executive: Chet Pipkin, CEO
Headquarters: Playa Vista, Calif.
Belkin's broad lineup of smartphone accessories includes power banks such as the Boost Charge Power Bank 5K With Lightning Connector, which has the advantage of being able to recharge itself using an iPhone Lightning cable. That means that mobile workers can use the same Lightning cable used to power their iPhone to recharge their power bank.
Bluebird
Top Executive: Lee Jang-won, CEO
Headquarters: South Korea
Bluebird is a major manufacturer of rugged handheld devices such as scanners and all-in-one mobile computers. The BIP1500 is a rugged all-in-one handheld featuring a modular design that allows users to personalize their device by swapping peripherals.
Broadcom
Top Executive: Hock Tan, CEO
Headquarters: San Jose, Calif.
Though Apple's iPhone sales have fallen recently, semiconductor firm Broadcom continues to generate much of its business from supplying chips—such as for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth—to the full iPhone lineup. The company said that aggregate sales to Apple accounted for roughly 20 percent of its revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 3.
Dell
Top Executive: Michael Dell, CEO
Headquarters: Round Rock, Texas
Key mobility offerings recently introduced by Dell include the Latitude 7400 2-in-1, which can reach up to 24 hours of battery life on a charge. Meanwhile, the screen on the convertible notebook has narrow bezels on all four sides for a nearly "edge to edge" display. That slim-bezel design goes a long way toward helping to boost the overall portability of the notebook, which Dell is touting as the smallest 14-inch 2-in-1 on the market by volume.
Dynabook Americas (formerly Toshiba America Client Solutions)
Top Executive: Nobuaki Kurumatani, CEO
Headquarters: Irvine, Calif.
Recently introduced Toshiba notebook offerings that now fall under Dynabook Americas include the Portégé X30T, a 2-in-1 detachable laptop that weighs just 1.76 pounds while offering up to 14 hours of battery life. The notebook also features a 13.3-inch FHD display with eighth-gen Intel Core processors.
Elo
Top Executive: Craig Witsoe, CEO
Headquarters: Milpitas, Calif.
Touchscreen technology specialist Elo provides mobility offerings such as the Elo I-Series for Android, a flexible platform for enterprise applications such as self-service, point-of-sale terminals, interactive signage and hospitality systems. The I-Series for Android touch-screen computers come in 10-inch, 15-inch and 22-inch sizes, and are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors to provide speedy app performance for mobile checkout.
Honeywell
Top Executive: Darius Adamczyk, CEO
Headquarters: Morris Plains, N.J. (moving to Charlotte, N.C., in 2019)
Honeywell recently announced that three of its rugged mobile computers—the Dolphin CT40, CT60 and CN80—have been validated for the Google-led Android Enterprise Recommended program. The inclusion indicates that the Dolphin mobile computers—which are used by used by workers in distribution centers, logistics, delivery and retail—meet "strict" technical specifications and requirements for extended life-cycle support, Honeywell said.
HP Inc.
Top Executive: Dion Weisler, CEO
Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.
In the realm of workforce mobility, HP Inc.'s latest product debuts have included the EliteBook x360 830, the first-ever convertible model in the EliteBook 800 series. Key features include an option for HP's Sure View integrated privacy screen; a built-in webcam cover (the HP Privacy Camera); and an optional high-brightness display (up to 1,000 nits, compared to a maximum of 700 nits previously). The convertible is also highly portable at about 3 pounds and 0.66 of an inch thick.
Huawei
Top Executive: Ren Zhengfei, CEO
Headquarters: China
Among Huawei's latest smartphone launches is the Mate 20 Pro, which features a three-camera system, including a 40-megapixel wide-angle camera. The Mate 20 Pro also features a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with 3,120 x 1,440 resolution, along with the eight-core Kirin 980 processor.
IGEL North America
Top Executive: Jed Ayres, CEO
Headquarters: San Francisco
For the UD Pocket, IGEL's tiny universal desktop thin client that can be deployed to mobile workers, key updates have included the removal of the need to disable UEFI Secure Boot in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. IGEL became the first thin-client company to receive validation from Microsoft for supporting Secure Boot on Linux, removing a hurdle for securely enabling remote workforces.
Intel
Top Executive: Robert Swan, CEO
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Intel's biggest processor debuts for mobility over the past year have included the Whiskey Lake U-series processors, which feature up to four cores and offer a maximum clock speed of 4.8GHz, and the Amber Lake Y-series processors, which are dual-core and can reach up to 3.9GHz. The chips are part of Intel's eighth generation of Core processors and are widely used in devices such as highly portable laptops and 2-in-1s.
Kensington
Top Executive: Boris Elisman, CEO of parent company ACCO Brands
Headquarters: San Mateo, Calif.
A leader in accessories for tablets and laptops—such as locks, chargers and cases—Kensington has also introduced specialty solutions such the SD7000 Surface Pro Docking Station. The station includes both docking/charging as well as locking for the Microsoft 2-in-1 tablet.
Lenovo
Top Executive: Yang Yuanqing, CEO
Headquarters: China and Morrisville, N.C.
Lenovo's latest introductions for business mobility include the seventh-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which features a new ePrivacy integrated privacy screen option. The 14-inch display also offers a new 4K/UHD resolution model with brightness of up to 500 nits, along with a new woven carbon fiber finish and a built-in webcam shutter. The new X1 Carbon also remains highly portable at 2.46 pounds, and measures 0.58 of an inch thick, making it a bit thinner than the previous 0.63-of-an-inch model.
LG
Top Executive: Jo Seong-Jin, CEO
Headquarters: South Korea
LG recently debuted its newest flagship smartphone, the G8 ThinQ, a 6.1-inch OLED smartphone that includes a feature that LG is calling "Air Motion" commands. The G8 ThinQ lets you wave your hand to perform functions such as answering calls, increasing the volume and snoozing an alarm. Users can also log in using a scan of their palm as a new form of biometric authentication.
Logitech
Top Executive: Bracken Darrell, CEO
Headquarters: Switzerland and Newark, Calif.
Logitech offers an array of accessories for mobile devices, such as the K780 Bluetooth keyboard. The keyboard works with both Android and iOS devices—meaning it can be used even with tablets that can't plug into a keyboard, such as the 9.7-inch iPad. The keyboard also stands out with its quiet, comfortable keys.
Micron Technology
Top Executive: Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO
Headquarters: Boise, Idaho
Micron Technology is a manufacturer of critical components—such as NAND flash memory and DRAM—for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Micron's recent launches have included new NAND-based SSDs, the Micron 1300 SSD series, which aim to bring faster storage to devices.
Nvidia
Top Executive: Jensen Huang, CEO
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Nvidia continues to serve as a go-to manufacturer of discrete graphics for notebooks from many of the largest PC makers, including notebooks used by professionals. Nvidia's GeForce GTX graphics can be found as an option in notebooks such as the Microsoft Surface Book 2 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme.
OnePlus
Top Executive: Pete Lau, CEO
Headquarters: China
Among the latest releases from Android smartphone maker OnePlus is the OnePlus 6T, which features a 6.41-inch AMOLED display; terrific performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and up to 8 GB of RAM; a speedy in-display fingerprint sensor; and a dual rear camera system of 16- and 20-megapixel cameras.
Panasonic
Top Executive: Kazuhiro Tsuga, CEO
Headquarters: Japan
Recent releases in Panasonic's mobility portfolio have included the Toughbook 20, a rugged 2-in-1 detachable laptop that offers up to 17 hours of battery life thanks to an included second battery. The company also recently refreshed the Toughpad FZ-M1, a 7-inch Windows 10 tablet that's ruggedized for unpredictable work environments.
Qualcomm
Top Executive: Steve Mollenkopf, CEO
Headquarters: San Diego
Qualcomm remains an essential player in mobile device innovation, with its Snapdragon processors continuing to provide speedy performance to the leading Android smartphones and tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Google Pixel 3. Qualcomm's smartphone modems, meanwhile, are a key component enabling the arrival of high-speed 5G.
Samsung
Top Executive: Dong Jin Kim, CEO/President, Mobile Communications
Headquarters: South Korea
Samsung has doubled down on offering business-friendly features in its lineups of Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Those include the Galaxy Note9 smartphone, the Galaxy S10 smartphone series and the Galaxy Tab S4 2-in-1 tablet, all of which offer easy connectivity to Samsung's DeX Android desktop—enabling mobile workers to reduce the number of devices they need.
Sony
Top Executive: Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO
Headquarters: Japan
The recently unveiled Sony Xperia 1 features an ultratall display—or ultrawide if you're holding it horizontally—thanks to a 21:9 aspect ratio for its 6.5-inch display. The display itself features 4K resolution and vibrant OLED screen technology, and the display is HDR-capable. Other key features include three rear cameras.
TCL
Top Executive: Li Dongsheng, CEO
Headquarters: China
Key releases from TCL, the maker of BlackBerry-branded phones, include the BlackBerry KEY2. The biggest differentiator is the inclusion of physical keys, while the keyboard also doubles as a trackpad, which can used for tasks such as swiping to scroll on the display and launching shortcuts to apps.
Xplore Technologies
Top Executive: Tom Wilkinson, CEO
Headquarters: Austin, Texas
Key offerings from Xplore Technologies include the rugged XBook L10 tablet, which features drop protection (up to six feet) and waterproofing/dustproofing, as well as the ability to view the display in bright conditions thanks to having 500 or 1,000 nits of brightness.
Zebra Technologies
Top Executive: Anders Gustafsson, CEO
Headquarters: Lincolnshire, Ill.
Zebra Technologies offers mobility products including mobile computers and bar-code scanners for a number of industries. Zebra's ultra-rugged MC9300 Mobile Computer runs Android and enables users to capture bar codes that are as far away as 70 feet.