Original design manufacturer
{{Not to be confused|Original equipment manufacturer}}
{{short description|Company that manufactures a product, that is rebranded by another firm for sale}}
{{one source|date=June 2012}}
An original design manufacturer is a company that designs and manufactures a product; in contrast to "OEM" which only manufactures a product, and designs are done by the upstream company.
Post-2016 Nokia phones (HMD) is an example of a firm which relies on original design manufacturers. In late 2019, it switched from relying on only one original design manufacturer to multiple original design manufacturers.{{Cite web|url=https://nokiapoweruser.com/despite-sales-decline-nokia-phones-business-saw-its-1st-positive-earnings-ebit-in-q4-2019/|title=Despite sales decline, Nokia phones business saw its 1st positive earnings (EBIT) in Q4 2019|date=31 March 2020}}
Examples
- Foxconn is one example of an ODM, which helps upstream companies such as Dell, Lenovo to manufacture laptops. It has also manufactured products for Apple, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and many other companies.
- ZOTAC, a Hong Kong graphics card manufacturer that has its own factories, designs and manufactures some special Nvidia graphics cards, and then rebrands and provides them to companies like Lenovo.
- Kingston Technology and ADATA are examples of ODMs, as they can design and manufacture solid-state drives and memory modules.
Intellectual property
Original design manufacturers create their own intellectual property and are very proactive in patenting it. Most of their patents are filed in the US, China, and Taiwan.