Original equipment manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. The term is also used in several other ways, which causes ambiguity. It sometimes means the maker of a system that includes other companies' subsystems, an end-product producer, an automotive part that is manufactured by the same company that produced the original part used in the automobile's assembly, or a value-added reseller.[1][2]
Automotive parts
When referring to auto parts, OEM typically refers to the manufacturer of the original equipment, that is, the parts which are then subsequently assembled and installed during the construction of a new vehicle. In contrast,
Other-brand parts would be considered aftermarket, such as Champion spark plugs, DieHard batteries, Kinsler fuel injectors, and BMP engine blocks and heads. Many auto parts manufacturers sell parts through multiple channels, for example to car makers for installation during new-vehicle construction, to car makers for resale as automaker-branded replacement parts, and through general merchandising supply chains. Any given brand of part can be OEM on some vehicle models and aftermarket on others.[citation needed]
Computer software
These OEMs commonly use a procedure known as System Locked Pre-installation, which pre-activates Windows on PCs that are to be sold via mass distribution. These OEMs also commonly bundle software that is not installed on stock Windows on the images of Windows that will be deployed with their PCs (appropriate hardware drivers, anti-malware and maintenance software, various apps, etc.).
Individuals may also purchase OEM "system-builder" licenses for personal use (to include
Direct OEMs are officially held liable for things such as installation/recovery media, and as such were commonly provided until the late-2000s. These were phased out in favor of recovery partitions located on the primary storage drive of the PC (and available for order from the manufacturer upon request) for the user to repair or restore their systems to the factory state. This not only cut down on costs, but was also a consequence of the gradual obsolescence and phasing out of optical media from 2010 onward. System builders also have a different requirement regarding installation media from Direct OEMs.[4][5]
While a clean retail media of Windows can be installed and activated on these devices with OEM keys (most commonly using the SLP key that's embedded in to the system firmware already), actual OEM recovery media that was created by the PC manufacturer (not system-builder, nor retail Windows versions) typically only works on the PC model line that was designed for it. For example, a recovery disc/USB for a
Economies of scale
OEMs rely on their ability to drive down the cost of production through economies of scale. Using an OEM also allows the purchasing company to obtain needed components or products without owning and operating a factory.
See also
- Contract manufacturer
- Electronics manufacturing services
- Open-design movement
- Open-source hardware
- Original design manufacturer
- Outsourcing
- Private label
- White-label product
- Rebranding
- Secondary market
- Value-added reseller
References
- ^ Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine, 1981, Chapter One, paragraph 17, "hence the rise of companies known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs—they'd buy gear from various companies and put it together in packages".
- ^ Practical Law, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
- ^ "General Info on Microsoft OEM COA's, CDs, Ect". eBay. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- Microsoft Corporation. Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.