AboCom Systems is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of telecommunication and networking products since 1995. With factories in both Taiwan and China, AboCom plays an active role in regions such as China, North America and Europe. Backed by strong R&D and ODM capabilities, the company is a major hardware supplier for system integrators who offer end devices to telecoms and multi-service operators. In addition, AboCom is a strategic partner with Qualcomm, MediaTek and Realtek on IoT development.
Having perceived the growing opportunity in the burgeoning smart home sector, AboCom entered the marketplace by offering pilot products such as home gateways, Wi-Fi P2P cameras and smart plugs in Q3 2013. The IP camera and the smart plug support wireless Wi-Fi, ZigBee and Bluetooth connectivity. The company plans to launch connected devices for the smart home under its own brand AboCom. Jeffrey Liu, Director of Strategic Business Unit IV, says the home gateway provides a higher level of product differentiation due to its complexity in firmware architecture as well as wireless integration technologies. This also means greater profits for the company.
When asked about how the company will cope with the price competition from suppliers in China, Liu says staying ahead of the game is crucial.
Also, the company acknowledges that integrated solutions in the smart home offer value and profits to both customers and solution providers.
Liu considers telecoms to be one of the major market drivers, and should their business take off in the smart home, device makers can ride along this wave of growth. In terms of business opportunities, Liu believes home security is the major application in North America while in Asia (East Asia in particular), energy management can be seen as a major focus.