Driving adoption of IoT in Retail, Industries and Education

Australia, 21 November 2017 - AOPEN and SYNNEX have signed an official partnership to highlight the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions for markets such as Retail, Industries and Education.

The partnership will help companies embrace the power of IoT when using Embedded products and Commercial Chrome, and deploy exciting new solutions to enhance business and gain a competitive edge.

Synnex, a global leader in ICT Supply Chain take a leap in to IoT distribution last year, is already an official distributor of AOPEN products. This new collaboration will see increased focus on Embedded products such as Mini-OPS, Digital Signage and Commercial Chrome devices.

Kee Ong, CEO SYNNEX Australia and New Zealand said, “AOPEN addition to the SYNNEX distribution portfolio, gives our resellers access to new market-leading Commercial Chrome and Embedded products. The agreement comes at a time when resellers are looking to their distributor to help them capitalize on the rapid explosion of IoT enablement in the ICT channel, and we are excited to rise to meet their needs in this space across several key vertical markets.”

"With the number of IoT devices set to surpass mobile devices by 2018, there are huge business opportunities. We're creating interconnected, smart solutions that increasingly run themselves. AOPEN's robust, industrial grade hardware, with the power and flexibility of Chrome, is ideal for this. This partnership will ensure that we can help our customers take advantage of IoT with advanced and reliable technology."

AOPEN's close connection with Chrome was a major drawcard for Synnex. AOPEN's powerful and compact Chromebox and Chromebase were the first commercial grade Chrome-based device from Google.

"AOPEN has pioneered Chrome in digital signage. The customisability of Chrome is new to the industry, and represents enormous potential. The Chromebox and Chromebase are already IoT ready: connected, robust, and easy to install and use," Rajesh Thangaraj, SYNNEX IoT Sales and Solution Specialist says.

According to predictions, there will be 200 billion connected IoT devices worldwide by 2020. The IoT hardware market for US retail is already seeing 15-20% annual growth, and is forecast to reach USD $11.6b by 2025.

Many of AOPEN's solutions, built on its meldCX software platform, already use IoT technologies, from RFID and inventory tracking to biometric and facial recognition. meldCX provides a single platform from which to create and control digital experiences in a physical world. meldCX also provides a universal signage player that can be run from any existing CMS, essentially we can enable CMS providers to use chrome without building a chrome player. These solutions allow companies to make rapid progress in adopting IoT whilst being confident that they can build custom solutions that bring their business objectives to life.

AOPEN Group Global Chief Digital Officer Stephen Borg says closer collaboration with Synnex will further propel the use of these technologies and allow businesses to hit their desired outcomes.

"We demonstrate many cutting edge solutions in our retail labs. With a partner like Synnex, who shares our philosophy and expertise in selling solutions not simply products, we can help customers deploy these technologies. Businesses using the IoT will gain a rapid competitive advantage, and we hope to enable that."

About AOPEN

Founded in 1996, AOPEN is today a major global electronics manufacturer and a thought leader in digital signage.

AOPEN is an official partner for Google Chrome devices, including the following tiers:

●    Google Cloud Sales Premier Partner (Chrome)

●    Google for Education Sales Premier Partner

●    Google Cloud Services Partner (Chrome)

●    Google for Work Education Services Partner

Specialising in multi-platform, ultra-small form factor computing for both home and business, AOPEN works with a wide range of partners - from hardware to software and services. Through these partnerships, AOPEN creates advanced digital display solutions for many of the world's top brands.

Part of the Wistron group, AOPEN has a presence in over 100 countries. AOPEN customers and partners range from government and financial institutions to retailers, retail design firms, strategic consultants, and branding agencies.

www.aopen.com