Embedded systems are ubiquitous and have long become an integral part of our life in various aspects. The performance of these systems is crucial to the smooth running of various functions of society. Clientron was established in 1983 and has been focusing on thin client, point of sales (POS), and car PC solutions. It is dedicated to providing the most reliable and secure embedded system solutions. With years of professional experience in the embedded system sector, Clientron is making headway into the Internet of Things (IoT) market to expand the product portfolio and business scope.
"I don't like to refer to thin clients as 'simplified PCs' in Chinese," said Kelly Wu, president of Clientron. "This may lead people think thin clients are very simple products. In fact a thin client requires design usually characterized by high reliability and low power consumption of the system. Also, to provide the right tools for thin clients, the systems are often customized to meet the specific needs of different industries. The systems have to be flexible to provide highly efficiency system platforms catering for the needs of entry-level to high-end sectors. Hence, to provide the right product, Clientron needs to have certain knowledge of various industries in order to produce highly customized tools. The entry barrier for this industry is not low."
Powerful thin clients define generation 3.0
Clientron's thin client team has comprehensive knowledge for each phase of the business - from product design, manufacturing, quality control, to marketing. Therefore it can provide high quality solutions. This is also the reason why Clientron has maintained an ODM partnership with one of the five largest thin client brands for nearly 20 years. The top-five thin client brands combined market share is about 80% worldwide.
Clientron's thin client products are mainly used in industries that feel strongly toward data security such as goverment, banking, and enterprise. In recent years, the firm's products have also been used in logistics control and medical industries. Kerry Logistics, the largest logistics firm in the Greater China region, uses Clientron's thin client products. In addition, thin client products from Clientron can also be found on nursing carts and in hospitals and clinics.
So far Clientron has designed more than 50 thin client products for different industries. Wu maintained, "We're so professional that we have the authority to define what thin clients are." Clientron plans to announce the details of Thin Client 3.0 at the 2016 Embedded World Exhibition.
Unique POS designs favored by restaurants and retailers
Clientron's team has been attending various major exhibitions around the world for many years including EuroCIS, FHA, NRA, Embedded World and Computex. "We emphasize heavily on marketing because experience tells us that without seeing the actual products, customers mostly care about pricing. But once they see the actual products, prices becomes less of an issue and instead they will be very eager to have samples," said Wu.
As for the POS product line, Clientron introduces three new designs annually to accommodate the need for ultra-slim and advanced enclosure designs. The firm recently introduced the Ares650 and Wing650. These two products are compact and lightweight, receiving much praise from customers. In particular, the Ares650 was specifically designed with an ultra-compact chassis to accommodate variety of demands in different fields. The product provides optional I/O expansion card modules to increase the flexibility, allowing customers to install POS peripherals in various applications. As for the Wing650, the series was designed with dual hinges to enhance user experience, supporting multi angles adjustment of the screen to allow the user to freely adjust to the best operation angle and fit it into different environments. The POS products provided by Clientron are mostly used in the hospitality and retail markets.
Making gains in car PC market, setting sights on IoT
In addition to its success in the thin client and POS sectors, Clientron has also been making gains in the car PC market. The Clientron car PC products have entered the supply chains of Hainan Mazda and King Long United Automotive. Compared with other Taiwan-based car PC firms that only ship to the aftermarket (AM), Clientron has successfully entered the original equipment (OE) supply chain. "We are ready for the China's expanding electric vehicle market. Clientron will start making deployments in 2016 and expects to achieve substantial results in 2017," added Wu.
Looking forward, Clientron plans to develop intelligient client solutions for the vertical market, extending thin clients' green energy, eco-friendly and innovative design concepts to various other sectors. Clientron also plans to strengthen their POS product line to provide smart retail and intelligent system solutions with the benefits of higher performance and power efficiency for the retail and hospitality industries. To embrace the era of IoT, Clientron will also develop sensors and edge computers in order to capture niche market opportunities and become a professional IoT solution provider.
Kelly Wu, President & CEO of Clientron, discloses that the company is leveraging its embedded systems to expand into the IoT market.
