Advantech, Inventec form AIMobile joint venture

Apr. 4, 2016 – Inventec, a design and manufacturing service provider of notebook computers, servers and mobile devices, and Advantech, a provider of industrial intelligent systems, say they will enter a strategic alliance agreement to form a new company, AIMobile Co. Ltd.

Inventec and Advantech will hold 55 per cent and 45 per cent of the equity, respectively. The timing and amount of actual cash will be based on the schedule of operations. AIMobile will focus on the development and manufacturing of industrial handheld mobile devices targeting retail, in-vehicle, field service and medical applications.

“The strategic alliance between Inventec and Advantech is a win-win situation,” said Richard Lee, chairman of Inventec Group. “AIMobile will not only bolster Advantech’s branded solutions, but it is also a major step for Inventec toward the Internet of Things. Based on the strong commitment by, and close collaboration between both sides, AIMobile will be recognized by global customers as the number one design and manufacturing partner for industrial mobile systems.”

Ke-Cheng Liu, chairman of Advantech noted, “In various industrial and smart city applications, Advantech sees strong demand for handheld mobile devices from its customers and believes there is a strong potential for growth. Through Advantech’s brand and market reach, and by leveraging the abundance of software and hardware engineering resources of Inventec, AIMobile will provide customers with the best-in-class industrial tablets and other handheld devices, in particular solutions based on the Android operating system with software and peripheral support.”

Inventec and Advantech say that thanks to “Advantech’s industry know-how and global sales network” and “Inventec’s strong software and hardware capability in mobile devices as well as its manufacturing expertise, AIMobile is well-positioned to capture new growth opportunities and become a global leader in the design and manufacturing of industrial mobile systems.”