2016 Mobility 100: 25 Coolest Mobile Hardware Vendors
25 Coolest Mobile Hardware Vendors
Mobile is everywhere. From smartphones to 2-in-1 tablets, almost everyone has a mobile device today. And businesses are addressing the mobile explosion head on with bring-your-own-device policies and mobile strategic planning in the workplace.
But mobile is more than the smartphones and tablets themselves -- businesses need to think about the platform, brand, processor and accessories that come with mobile devices in the workplace. Should the mobile devices deployed in a workplace be ruggedized? Should enterprises consider a mount for their tablets if their devices are being used in the manufacturing industry?
For solution providers thinking about these options for their customers, following are the 25 coolest mobile hardware vendors.
Acer
Jason Chen, CEO
Headquarters: New Taipei
Acer touts a broad portfolio of consumer tablets and smartphones, but on the business side the company has some legitimate professional-grade tablet brands, including the Windows-powered Iconia Tab 10, and laptops such as the TravelMate P6 and Chromebook 15.
Alcatel
Philippe Camus, CEO
Headquarters: France
Alcatel's mobile lineup includes an array of entry-level devices aimed at consumers, including the Android-powered OneTouch Pixi tablet. Alcatel also includes its OneTouch mobile brand on smartphones like OneTouch Idol and OneTouch Pop Astro.
Apple
Tim Cook, CEO
Headquarters: Cupertino, Calif.
Beyond its flagship iPhone brand, Apple has an array of mobile products for authorized resellers and service providers, including its iPad tablet line and Apple Watch wearable. With products like the iPad Pro, Apple has recently aimed for more enterprise-friendly features like enhanced security.
ARM
Simon Segars, CEO
Headquarters: U.K.
On the processor side, ARM comes to the mobile market from a different angle than Intel or Qualcomm -- the company licenses application processor cores and other key building blocks for premium and entry-level mobile devices, such as its Cortex-A and Cortex-M architecture.
Asus
Jerry Shen, CEO
Headquarters: Taiwan
Asus offers a broad spectrum of mobile devices, from entry-level smartphones such as the ZenFone, 2-in-1s such as the detachable Transformer Book series, and Android tablets, like the ZenPad and Transformer Pad.
Belkin
Chester Pipkin, CEO
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Belkin offers a variety of mobile accessories for products from Apple and Samsung, including the iPhone, iPad, and Galaxy S devices. Among Belkin's accessories include chargers, cables, mounts, docks and stands, as well as screen protection technology for smartphones and tablets.
Broadcom
Scott McGregor, CEO
Headquarters: Irvine, Calif.
Broadcom is another chip-maker who designs application processors and Wi-Fi chips for smartphone vendors, including Apple. Broadcom, which merged with Avago Technologies in February, sells a broad portfolio of analog and mixed signal chips, wireless radios, custom networking chips, and data center networking chips to a wide range of industries.
Dell
Michael Dell, CEO
Headquarters: Round Rock, Texas
Dell touts a variety of business-class, secure and manageable mobile tablets -- most notably, the Venue tablet lineup. Dell's Venue lineup contain features for both SMBs and large enterprises, including the Android-powered 5000 series or Windows-powered Venue Pro for productivity functions.
Garmin
Min Kao, CEO
Headquarters: Switzerland
Garmin offers corporate wearables and smart watches as part of an initiative to ’energize your workforce.’ Garmin's portfolio, which includes products like the Vivofit 2 activity tracker and Vivoactive GPS smartwatch, helps workplaces engage through Garmin Connect.
Honeywell
David Cote, CEO
Headquarters: Morristown, N.J.
Honeywell specializes in an array of mobile products, including barcode scanners, mobile computers, wearable scanners and enterprise sleds for Apple devices, which transform Apple products into powerful enterprise solutions. Honeywell's mobile computer portfolio is targeted at applications like health care, industrial cold storage and hazardous work environments.
HP Inc.
Dion Weisler, CEO
Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.
HP Inc. offers a portfolio of tablets that ranges in both price and form factor, from the $100 HP 7 G2 Android tablet all the way up to the $1,449 Windows 10 Pro-powered HP Pro x2 G1 tablet with a keyboard. Most recently, HP Inc. unveiled a business-class Windows 10 phablet, the Elite x3.
HTC
Cher Wang, CEO
Headquarters: Taiwan
HTC offers its mobile devices as applications for ’productivity and play.’ On the tablet end, HTC's Nexus 9 is one of its more business-friendly devices, with a detachable keyboard folio, transforming it into a mobile laptop device. HTC also touts Android-based, entry-level 4G devices such as its Desire and One M9 smartphone brands.
Intel
Brian Krzanich, CEO
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Intel's Atom processors, including the x3, x5 and x7, are made for smartphones and tablets. The Atom processors provide an array of features, including quick app response, multitasking and HD video capabilities. Beyond phones and tablets, however, Intel has made a bigger drive in the 2-in-1 market, with its sixth-generation Intel Core M processors boosting productivity and graphics capabilities.
Kensington
Ben Thacker, Vice President
Headquarters: San Mateo, Calif.
Kensington is best known for the array of accessories it sells for mobile products. On the security front, the company sells keyed and portable locks for tablets, laptops and USB ports. Kensington also sells tablet and smartphone chargers, charging cables, device mounts for cars and rugged device cases.
Lenovo
Yang Yuanqing, CEO
Headquarters: Morrisville, N.C.
Lenovo covers the mobile spectrum with its product portfolio for partners, with tablets ranging from the ThinkPad tablet series to the Miix series. The company also offers entry-level Android phablets and smartphones, including the Vibe series and P series, and its mobile portfolio was enhanced by its purchase of Motorola, bringing in devices like the Moto X.
LG
Bon-Joon Koo, CEO
Headquarters: South Korea
LG offers a variety of Android slates with its G Pad brand. These tablets are mostly consumer-focused, but LG does have some enterprise-targeted features, including dual window capabilities as well as smart keyboard features. LG's most recent phone, the G5, is known for its modular design, which some analysts say could change the smartphone industry.
Logitech
Bracken Darrell, CEO
Headquarters: Switzerland
Logitech is a mobile accessories company offering keyboards, cases, and mouse accessories for smartphones and tablets. The company's portfolio includes Bluetooth keyboards and combos, protective cases with an AnyAngle stand, and other materials that can convert tablets into devices that are easy to take notes and write on.
Micron Technology
Mark Durcan, CEO
Headquarters: Boise, Idaho
Micron Technologies specializes in advanced NAND and DRAM technologies for tablets, particularly its 20nm DDR4 products for mobile customers. DDR4, the newest iteration in DRAM, is loaded with features to improve speed and power on ultra-thin and tablet markets.
Nvidia
Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.
Nvidia manufactures mobile devices, including the Shield Tablet and Evga Tegra Note series, but most of its mobile products are processors that improve graphics and performance for smartphones and tablets. The company's Tegra mobile processors include the Tegra K1, which is in Google's Nexus 9, as well as GeForce GPUs for notebook PCs.
Panasonic
Kazuhiro Tsuga, CEO
Headquarters: Japan
Panasonic builds rugged mobile products for employees who may be dealing with tough work environments. These tablets, such as the Toughpad FZ-F1, can survive in water, dust and dirt. Panasonic’s ruggedized products are perfect for mobile-focused solution providers with customers in warehousing and manufacturing.
Qualcomm
Steven Mollenkopf, CEO
Headquarters: San Diego
Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors dominate the mobility market, as many flagship tablets and smartphones pack the company's processor. Samsung's Galaxy S series and LG's G5, for instance, both pack Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 820 processor, which contains X12 LTE.
Samsung
Jong-Kyun Shin, CEO
Headquarters: South Korea
Samsung offers a diverse array of phones, including its newest Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 5 models, as well as tablets like the Galaxy Tab S2. While Samsung typically sticks to Android consumer products, it recently released a Windows 10 enterprise-friendly 2-in-1, the Galaxy TabPro S.
Sony
Kazuo Hirai, CEO
Headquarters: Japan
Sony's Xperia-branded, Android mobile products extend from tablets, such as the Xperia Z4 tablet or Z3 tablet Compact, to smartphones, including the Xperia Z5 performance. Sony also offers an array of accessories, including phone covers and USB chargers.
Toshiba
Masashi Muromachi, CEO
Headquarters: Japan
While Toshiba's smartphones are mostly entry-level, consumer-based mobile products, such as its Android-powered Excite lineup, the company offers a more dynamic tablet portfolio for its channel base. Toshiba's dynaPad tablet, for instance, is a Windows 10-powered 2-in-1 that contains enterprise-friendly features for businesses.
Zebra Technologies
Anders Gustafsson, CEO
Headquarters: Lincolnshire, Illi.
Zebra Technologies offers an array of mobile products for warehouse and manufacturing verticals, including mobile computers, barcode scanners, and printers. Partners who want to drive mobile solutions with customers in these verticals can also take advantage of Zebra's ruggedized product set.