The world is called a “connected community” because of the role played by the Internet. We have the Internet today because of the availability of the devices used for accessing it. From computers to smartphones – a lot of devices are now Internet-enabled.
Hardware drives the performance of most of these devices. To this end, the global hardware is one of the most profitable with the top 10 hardware manufacturing companies leading by the market capitalizations.
What is Hardware?
Also called computer hardware, the term “hardware” is used to describe the physical computers of a computer. It is also used to refer to the related devices used in a computer.
To this end, a hardware manufacturing company specializes in the production of the tangible or physical components of a computer, and which are required for enhancing the software’s operations.
What Types of Hardware Exist?
Different hardware manufacturing companies produce a variety of hardware. Generally, they are categorized into internal and external hardware.
While the external hardware deals with the outward computer components, such as printers, keyboards, scanners, and monitors; the internal hardware is for the components inside the computer. Examples of these components are power supplies, motherboards, Random Access Memories (RAMs), graphic cards, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), and Solid-State Drives (SSDs).
Now, we are going to talk about some of the top hardware manufacturing companies and some of the services they offer in that regard.
1. Apple
When a mention is made of the companies that produce the most hardware, Apple tops the list. Besides having diverse products in this regard, the company also has a dominating market share that makes it the leading company, by market capitalization.
As a leading tech hardware company, Apple produces a range of household devices, ranging from mobile communication devices (such as iPhones and iPads); digital watches, Personal Computers (such as Macs) and portable digital music players.
To bolster the services, the company also offers a plethora of other related services, such as:
- Music and streaming entertainment solutions.
- Networking solutions.
2. Samsung
Samsung Electronics prove that the tech hardware market is not limited to a country. While Apple is dominating in the U.S. where it is based and other parts of the world; Samsung created a new market in the South Korean region.
This South Korean hardware manufacturer is also a household name, thanks to the classy design of the hardware solutions. Today, you can enjoy the consumer and industrial computer hardware solutions the company offers.
A Fierce Competitor to Apple
Samsung Electronics favorably competes with Apple in the global hardware market. For example, the Galaxy series of smartphones are a direct competition to Apple’s iPhones.
On the other hand, the production of computer peripherals, such as hardware makes it a global brand. Samsung Electronics manufacture the following:
- Digital cameras
- Personal Computers (PCs)
- Monitors and;
- Semiconductors
3. Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation or Intel for short, is an American electronics company specializing in the design, production and sells of computer parts. It majors in the manufacturing and selling of microprocessors (especially the x86 microprocessor, which most electronics’ manufacturers purchase from Intel).
Intel’s offerings in the semiconductor market also covers memory devices, motherboards, power solutions, and chipsets.
Intel Corporation also has a suite of hardware solutions, such as:
AI-Related Hardware Solutions
In the dawn of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Intel has delved into the production of different kinds of hardware to satisfy the market demands. The suite of AI hardware solutions includes:
- Habana Gaudi and Goya: these are hardware solutions designed drive the efficiency and deep learning performance on the cloud and datacenters.
- Intel Xeon Scalable Processors: these are dedicated processors for accelerating AI and security capabilities. These processors also come in handy for the simplification of the datacenter AI deployments.
- Intel GPUs: these are Xe architecture integrated into future-discrete GPUs and selected Central Processing Units (CPUs).
Hardware for Edge Workloads
Intel also produces hardware used to test the workloads for a wide range of combinations, such as accelerators, CPUs and GPUs. These are broadly used to identify the best architecture for fitting your hardware needs on the Intel Developer Cloud for the Edge development environment.
4. HP Inc.
HP is one of the popular names in the global hardware market. As a multinational Information Technology (IT) company, it specializes in the production and distribution of printing and image-related solutions for the computer hardware market. From printers to scanners, toners and printing inks – HP makes them all.
The manufacturer also deals on other extensive areas of hardware, such as:
- Storage solutions.
- Workstations.
- Personal Computers (PCs).
- Consumer desktop and notebooks.
- Scanning devices and;
- Audio devices.
5. Lenovo Group
This is a Hong-Kong hardware manufacturer, specializing in the design, development and production of different kinds of computer-related solutions, including hardware.
Anything from tablets, servers, workstations, smart TVs, PCs and smartphones are the company’s forte.
Besides these, it also specializes in the provision of Information Technology (IT) and Internet-related services.
6. Dell Technologies
Also called Dell for short, this is a holding company that provides innovative and extensive solutions for the hardware market.
Dell specializes in the provision of hardware and software solutions, targeted at the Information Technology (IT) sector.
Hardware Solutions
Dell provides different kinds of hardware solutions, such as storage and PCs. For the storage solutions, it provides the PowerStore, which is geared towards introducing a “future-proof intelligent storage that redefines performance.”
It also offers scalable IT solutions, designed to provide a power transformation with networking, storage and server solutions. These are further made adaptable and scalable, as per your business’ needs.
The desktops are optimized along the lines of minimalism, simplicity and maximum performance. The Optiplex monitors, for example, are Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven desktops with simplified design and upgraded performance.
7. Cisco Systems Inc.
This hardware manufacturing company produces and sells a plethora of hardware products for the networking devices.
Examples of the products in the portfolio are network management solutions, such as controllers, switches, and routers.
Cisco also manufactures interfaces and modules, such as:
- Cisco Optical Transponders
- Cisco Network Modules
- Cisco Services Modules
- Cisco Interface Cards and;
- Cisco Nexus SmartNIC
Cisco Webex Hardware
This is Cisco’s hardware-as-a-service solution, deigned to improve the use of latest technologies for increasing collaboration in the workplace.
With the Cisco Webex Hardware as a Service subscription, you get to:
- Make your workplace devices adaptable.
- Enjoy industry-leading collaboration endpoints, especially via the connection of Webex-enabled devices and IP phones.
8. Nvidia Corporation
This is an American multinational IT company that has in recent years, become a leader in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing market. Nvidia is gaining this status due to the massive investments in the production of hardware for AI solutions.
The Motley Fool had listed the Nvidia stock as one of the best to buy if you are looking to invest in AI-related stocks.
Nvidia is popular for the different kinds of graphics cards it manufactures, especially those used in the gaming laptops. A good example is the GeForce RTX 40 Series Graphics Cards popularized for the quantum leap they offer in terms of performance and providing AI-powered graphics.
Nvidia’s AI Computation Solutions
The hardware-related solutions for Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancements cut across different areas, such as high-performance computing, design and simulation, robotics and edge computing, AI and data science, gaming and creating; and automotive markets.
The NVIDIA Isaac and Jetson platforms are specifically used for developing and delivering end-to-end solutions for the robotics and edge computing markets. These platforms also aid the delivery of the Nvidia hardware solutions to the retail, manufacturing, smart cities, logistics and healthcare markets.
The company also deploys the hardware solutions for the High-Performance Computing (HPC) solutions. Here, the solutions are enabled to process data and perform a wide range of complex calculations at faster speeds.
9. LG Electronics
LG is one of the top manufacturers of hardware used in the production of home appliances. Based in South Korea, it has remained consistent with the production and sales of home appliances and a wide range of digital display equipment.
It is worth noting that LG Electronics also manufactures telecommunication gadgets.
The list of products it manufactures covers:
- Tablets
- A/V products
- Smartphones
- LED lighting
- Personal Computers (PCs)
- Air conditioners
- Flat panel TVs and;
- Washing machines.
- SONY
This is a Japanese hardware manufacturing company that specializes in making components for game consoles, electronic pieces of equipment, software, smartphones and instruments. SONY also manufactures camera modules, Personal Computers (PCs), image sensors and audio systems.
How to Choose the Best Hardware Manufacturer
Although the likes of LG Electronics, Dell, HP, Apple, Cisco and Samsung made the list; they are not the only hardware manufacturers in the world.
Other companies are Panasonic, Hon Hai Precision Industry, SONY, Tedco Precision Sheet Metal, Keystone Electronics Corporation, Device Technologies, Inc., and GracileIT.
If you are to work with any of these companies, you must first consider their capabilities. Here are some of the key points to help you make that decision:
What Type of Hardware Does the Company Make?
There are two major categories of hardware. These are the internal and external hardware. You want to choose the best hardware manufacturer based on the capabilities or specialty in making one or more of these parts.
Internal Hardware Components
As the name signifies, these are the parts inside the computer. The internal hardware components are basically used to process and store information or a set of instructions. Examples of such instructions are delivering the Operating System (OS) and programs.
Below are some of the examples of internal hardware parts:
- Card Readers: these are used to enable the “reading” of data from portable storage devices, such as Memory Cards (MCs).
- Central Processing Units (CPUs): these are responsible for processing the data from the computer-run programs.
- ODD: the Optical Disk Drive (ODD) is a type of storage device used to read and write data into optical disks. The process for actualizing this is via electromagnetic waves.
- Network Interface Cards (NICs): these are the interface cards that allow the computer-to-network connection to hold. The exchange of information or data between the computer and the Internet (network) is enabled via the NIC’s controlling of the computer system’s wired and wireless connections.
- RAM: the Random-Access Memory (RAM) is a storage component used for temporally storing the data created by the programs run by the computer systems.
- SSD: this is another type of storage device. The Solid-State Drive (SSD) is a flash drive-like of device that accesses data faster and uses less power when compared to the HDD.
- HDD: the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) provides the main storage for computer systems. It is also used to provide permanent storage of the data, especially when there is power outage in the computer systems.
External Hardware Components
These are the hardware parts on the outer surface of the computer systems. They are connected to the computer systems as a way of providing either outputs or inputs.
The external hardware components, also called “peripherals,” include:
- Headphones: these are used for listening to audio in the computer systems.
- Mouse: the work of the mouse is to aid the control of objects on the computer systems’ screens.
- Printers: you can use these to generate the hard copies of the pieces of electronic data stored inside the computer systems’ internal storage systems, such as HDDs and SDDs.
- Flash Drives: the Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives are make a portable storage of data.
- Monitors: these are used for delivering the graphics and video information of the computer systems.
- Webcam: depending on the computer systems, the web cameras (webcams) can either be embedded or integrated into the computer or provided as an attachment, connectable via a USB. The function of the webcam is to produce motion videos and still pictures via the connection to the computer and the Internet.
Final Words
Hardware components continue to drive the ongoing innovations of Information Technology (IT). Using the right components makes all the difference in your electronics’ performance.
Top manufactures like Intel, Dell, LG Electronics, Apple, Cisco and HP Inc. have distinguished themselves with the variety of solutions they offer.
When choosing one of these companies, ensure to verify the adaptability of their hardware solutions to your immediate needs. This way, you don’t waste money and time buying hardware that doesn’t provide the expected value.
